Nobody said it was easy
by katie049
Summary: "Hearing the word 'pregnant' coming out of her mouth, made the situation real for him. He remembered the feeling he got upon seeing Felicity cooing over a newborn Sara almost a year ago and that same feeling spread through his chest again, but one look at Felicity's face made him swallow hard. They were definitely not sharing the sentiment." Season 4 AU - Unfinished
1. 11 weeks, Part 1

**A/N: Alright, let's be honest. I watched the interview from EBR at the upfronts some time ago and I couldn't get her answer to the pregnancy question out of my head. Now I know that this isn't gonna happen like this, but what if it did? The thought of Felicity coming back pregnant and probably struggling intrigued me and I went ahead and tried to come up with something. Originally, this was only supposed to be like 4-5 chapters, but I'm already writing the sixth and I'm not halfway where I wanna be, so bear with me.**

 **The focus of the story is definitely the pregnancy, but I do try to answer a couple of other questions along the way too.**

 **This may also fit well with all the answer we got from ComicCon last weekend, concerning domestic-Oliver + stay-at-home Oliver and little couple fights.**

 **I'm still writing, so I don't have a schedule for the story yet, but I'll try not to take too long!**

 **Thanks goes to my beta reader Afsaint, who is doing a fabulous job at fixing my grammar.**

* * *

Tearing the box in front of him open, Oliver sighed. More books. How could one person possibly own so many books? Grabbing the top one, he read the title '10-day Green Smoothie Cleanse: Lose Up to 15 Pounds in 10 Days!' and a frown appeared on his forehead. Why would Felicity need to lose any weight? Maybe she had gained some pounds on their road trip together over the last five months, but he didn't mind on bit. He himself had gained a few pounds and his abs had slightly lessened much to Felicity's dismay, but they agreed to go running together and to work out more now that they were home.

Putting the book into the shelf, he grabbed another one, 'The Skinnytaste Cookbook: Light on calories, Big on Flavor'. In the time they've been on the road together, he never saw her cook once, yet she seemed to have a box full of cookbooks. He made a metal note to ask her about it when she came home later, concentrating on unpacking as many boxes as possible.

He had exactly one more hour until Felicity would come home from work and his goal was it to unpack the remaining boxes in the living room. There were two more standing on his left side labeled books and one closer to the TV labeled DVDs. Looking at the shelf in front of him, which was already stacked with box, he put the cookbooks back into the box, grabbing the box and bringing it into the open kitchen area.

Now that Felicity literally owned his company and they moved back to Starling City, they decided to move in together officially. Instead of him just moving into her townhouse, they had decided for a penthouse close to Palmer Technologies, making it easy for Felicity to go to work. In fact, they were actually living just a ten-minute walk away from the office, saving her from traffic in the morning and afternoon. Setting the box down, he went back into the living room, opened the next box and emptied it.

He finished quickly, going back into the kitchen and opening the fridge. As weird as it sounded, it actually felt nice just being at home and taking care of the house instead of going to work every day. Felicity had offered him his old job as CEO of Palmer Technologies, but he declined, so she had just signed over his shares again, ending his life as a poor man. To be honest, he didn't even need his shares and in the beginning he had a hard time accepting her decision, but he found out that it was nice to have his own money. He wasn't depending on Felicity and being able to pay his own way made him feel better.

Grabbing several different vegetables from the fridge, he went over to the cutting board, chopping them up, when he heard the door open. The familiar clicking of Felicity's heels made his lips tick upward as he put the chomped onion into a bowl next to the cutting board. He heard the soft tapping of her now bare feet come closer, and he looked over his shoulder, seeing her set her purse down onto the kitchen counter.

"Hi," he said, grabbing the zucchini next to him. "How was your day?"

He felt her approach and in the next moment, her slender arms wrapped around him, hugging him from behind.

"Long and tiring," she answered, placing her head between his shoulder blades. She sighed and he put the knife down, cleaning his hands on a kitchen towel, before easing her grip on him and turning in her arms. She immediately fell against his chest, her hands clinging to the sides of his shirt, her face buried in his shirt.

Wrapping his arms around her, he dropped a kiss onto her head. "Are you ok?"

She always came home tired from the moment she had started her new position as CEO, but today felt different. She seemed exhausted and drained and he felt a pang of worry surge through him. Normally, she was smiling, greeting him with a kiss and rambling about her day, sitting by the kitchen counter while he prepared dinner for them.

His hands reached for her face and he placed his hands on her cheeks, making her look at him. Dark rings were circled under her eyes and she looked paler than usual, almost white. His heart beat faster and he searched her eyes for any discomfort.

One of her hands covered his on her cheek, giving him a small smile. "I'm alright, Oliver. It was just a long day." Her other hand came around his neck, pulling his head down for a short kiss. He was always able to tell when she was lying to him, and right now, she was definitely trying to distract him from discovering the truth.

"Did you have lunch today?" He asked, after pulling away. She looked down at her feet, her shoulders curling forward, her chest curling in. The hand from his neck trailed down to his chest, nervously playing with the fabric of his shirt.

"Felicity, you can't just skip lunch every day. I know that you have a lot of work in the office, but it's important for you to eat, sweetheart," he scolded her softly, tilting her head up again. "Promise me, you won't skip lunch anymore, or I will personally bring you lunch every day and make you eat it."

A chuckle escaped her lips and she nodded her head, successfully easing the frown on his forehead.

"I promise," she whispered, before turning more playful. "I can't have my boyfriend harass my assistant for not giving me enough time to eat. Gerry is scared of you as it is, we really don't need to add to that."

"That's my girl." Pressing a gentle kiss to her lips, he let go of her. "Why don't you go and change and I'll get dinner ready?"

She nodded and started walking towards the hallway, when she stopped and turned around. "Thank you, Oliver." She gave him a gentle smile.

Winking at her, he laughed. "You're welcome. Just doing my job, as you trophy boyfriend." He turned back to the vegetables waiting to be cut, picking up the knife again.

Her laugh echoed through the hallway and his worry eased away, replaced by gratefulness.

* * *

Much later, they were curled up on the sofa, watching TV.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the new lair? We can go right now," Felicity started again, propping her chin onto his chest. "I know we agreed that you wouldn't go out the next few months, because it would be too suspicious with us just coming back to town, but I know that you're itching to finish the new lair."

He was lying on his back with Felicity curled into his side, their legs tangled together. It was barely past 8.30pm and for the last half an hour, Felicity had almost yawned nonstop.

"No, we can go tomorrow. You're too tired, Felicity. You need sleep." It was true, he did want to finish the new lair, but he was still not convinced that Felicity was all right. Ever since he had asked if she was ok, she seemed to try to convince him that she was just fine, but she was trying too hard.

"I'm fine, Oliver. I forgot to eat lunch, so what?" She let out an annoyed breath. "I was busy and simply forgot; please don't make a big deal out of it."

"You have to take care of yourself, Felicity. I know that today wasn't the first time you skipped lunch, but I'm letting it go for now. I don't wanna fight with you." He knew when to stop arguing with her, a tired Felicity also meant an angry Felicity, and in those occasions, it was better to just shut up.

"Thank you." She put her head back down onto his chest, focusing back to the TV.

Something was definitely not right. He knew she was stressed out at Palmer Technologies. They've been back for barely two weeks now, and between finding their own apartment, catching up with their friends and managing her new job as CEO, there wasn't much time left for just them or even to just sit down and take a little breather.

He missed the quiet of their beach house in Coast City, which they actually kept after coming back to Starling. Their days there weren't filled with many activities. Mostly it was just them, spending time together, talking and getting to know each other better. Every day, he learned something new about Felicity and himself and most importantly about their relationship. Their bond had grown quite strong and he wished that Ray Palmer had never left Felicity with his company.

Looking back down at his girlfriend, he found her fast asleep on his chest. Sighing, he gently pulled her glasses off, placing them on the coffee table, before switching off the TV. His arms wrapped around her shoulder and he carefully pulled her into a sitting position with him, before picking her up into his arms bridal style.

She didn't even stir once on the way to the bedroom and only when he put her down onto their bed did her eyes opened tiredly.

"I've got you. Go back to sleep," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead while pulling the covers over her. "I love you."

A soft hum left her lips as she turned around and curled up on her side, snuggling deeper into the pillows.

His eyes watched her for several minutes, drinking in her sleeping form. Her hair was shorter now, barely grazing her shoulders these days and at first he missed her longer hair. As time passed, he came to appreciate it, especially in the mornings, when she only took half the time to style it than before. Right now, her hair was in a loose ponytail, another thing he had learned about her. She didn't like to sleep with her hair open, because it all ended up in her face. No matter how tired she was, she always got up to get a hair band.

Tearing his gaze away from her, he quickly went to the bathroom to change, before joining her in bed.

* * *

Picking at her salad, Felicity reluctantly ate another bite, chewing it slowly, before throwing her fork into the plastic container. She really wasn't that hungry right now and her stomach was already churning again.

Looking back at the report in front of her, she heard her phone chime. Glancing over, she saw a new message from Oliver.

 _Did you eat your salad?_

As much as she loved him, he was just getting on her nerve right now. And he didn't even know how bad she really felt. The reason she felt so awful yesterday was because she had spent half of her day throwing up all the food she had eaten in the last few days. It actually started before she even went to work. She was standing in the shower while Oliver went for a run in the morning, and all of the sudden she was heaving out her dinner from the night before. If she told him the truth though, he would have dragged her to see the doctor or worse, made her stay home for a few days and she really could not afford losing any time at the office right now over some mild food poisoning. Her schedule was packed with meetings of investors and partners wanting to get to know the new CEO of Palmer Technologies.

It wasn't really fair of Ray to make her sign the transfer of ownership papers without actually telling her, then call her back from her new life of pure bliss with Oliver, and moving to Metropolis just because he wanted to play superhero instead of CEO. It was especially sneaky of him to make her sign those papers that particular day, because her mind had been everywhere else but her job in that moment. Any other day, she would have at least skimmed through the papers, but not right before getting on a plane with the rest of the team to try and save Oliver one last time.

Picking up her phone, she chewed on her bottom lip for a second, before texting a quick reply.

 _Just finished eating._

Well, that was half-true. She did eat some of the salad, but half of it was still left. Her appetite was just not what it used to be over the last few months. Her body was probably thanking her for eating somewhat healthier again, after months on the road and countless stops at various fast food chains. She had gained some weight and even though it wasn't too much, she still felt like she started to get a slight belly and that was something she couldn't afford right now.

Everyone was looking at her right now, scrutinizing her. She was the youngest CEO of a fortune 500 company in the country with her 26 years and it felt like everybody was just waiting for her to make a mistake. The board was constantly questioning her judgment and all the investors wanted to meet with her personally to make sure their money was still well invested. She knew she was good at her job, but it still stressed her out.

Her phone chimed again.

 _I love you._

Her heart started to beat faster after reading the three words. Even after five months with Oliver, she was still not completely used to hearing those words. In the beginning, both of them had shied away from saying them too often, afraid that it would get old at some point, but they quickly realized that hearing those words meant everything to them.

It felt good having Oliver remind her of his love several times a day. Especially now that she didn't get to see him as often as she wished to. Those five months they've been away together, they basically spent every minute of the day with one another.

Unlocking her phone, she sighed as she typed in her reply.

 _I love you too. Miss you. xx_

Grabbing the report from her desk, she got up from her chair, walking out of her office and towards Gerry's desk who looked up as she entered.

"Miss Smoak, how can I help you?" He asked kindly, getting up from his chair.

She was about to correct him on her name, when her vision suddenly turned black. She stopped walking, her hand reaching out for the nearest surfaces not finding one, until the dizziness became too much and she collapsed onto the floor.

* * *

There weren't many times that Oliver had been scared in his life. The feeling of being scared wasn't something he allowed himself to feel too often and the last time he had felt like this, he had found Thea bleeding out in front of the fireplace.

Maybe this time it was that much worse because of the last few blissful, uneventful months they had, but when Gerry had called him ten minutes ago, telling him that Felicity fainted and was on her way to the hospital, his heart had stopped beating and his breath was caught in his throat.

It took him a whole minute to recover and then his body was moving on autopilot. After hanging up on Gerry, he had grabbed his jacket and run down the stairs, not bothering to wait for the elevator. He made it to the hospital in less than 10 minutes and after parking his car in the fire lane, he had run inside, yelling at the nurse to tell him where Felicity was. The poor woman had quickly looked her name up, directing him through the emergency department.

Rounding the corner, he saw her sitting up in one of the hospital beds that were neatly lined up in a row at the opposite wall.

"Felicity," he breathed and she looked up, locking her eyes with his. Her face was ashen and even though he couldn't make out any possible injuries, he passed the distance between them in a few steps, lowering himself onto the edge of the bed. His hand went to her face gently stroking her cheek, before pulling her into his arms.

"I'm fine, Oliver," she whispered into his neck, hugging him back, her hands smoothing through his hair.

Pulling back, he framed her face in his hands. "What happened?"

"I don't really know. I just texted you back and then I got up to bring a report to Gerry and all of the sudden everything just blacked out," she explained, pulling him closer to her again. "They said my blood sugar was really low." Her voice was quiet, almost guilty. "But I swear, I ate my salad, well half of it, but I did!"

He wanted to be angry with her, but his worry was bigger than the anger he felt. "Why didn't you finish the rest of the salad? You barely ate anything this morning."

"I just wasn't hungry." She began to tremble in his arms and broke their gaze, dropping her chin to her chest. "I've been throwing up for the last two days and just looking at the salad made my stomach churn again." A tear rolled down her face and a sob left her mouth. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to worry."

For a second he felt betrayed, but seeing her in this miserable state, he swallowed the hurt, pulled her against his chest, and moved his hands into her hair.

"I wish you would have told me, sweetheart." He paused, pressing a kiss to her head. "I know you're taking your new job serious, and I'm glad you do. It makes me really proud, but you can't do that at the expense of your health."

She didn't answer for a while, just sniffling into his shirt and he continued running his fingers through her hair, gently massaging her scalp.

"I should have never lied to you," she whispered. "I feel awful about that, and to top it off I feel physically awful. Everything is aching and I feel like I need to throw up again."

Her tears started again and he had to say he was a little overwhelmed. In the three years he had known Felicity, she has never broken down like this. Not when she was trapped under Verdant during the Undertaking, not when the Count and Slade had threaten to kill her, nor when Cooper released her super virus and kidnapped her and her mother. She didn't even so much as blink when they walked into Nanda Parbat, a place filled with assassins that could have killed all of them in a matter of seconds.

He pressed her closer to his chest, dropping a kiss onto her hair. He wasn't sure what to say to make her feel better.

"Miss Smoak?" A voice next to him interrupted the silence between them and he reluctantly let go of Felicity, grabbing her hand instead. She was still sniffling silently and he gave her hand a quick squeeze, before turning around.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Johnson, Felicity's doctor," the man in front of him stretched out his hand and Oliver grabbed it, giving it a short squeeze.

"Oliver Queen, I'm Felicity's boyfriend," he introduced himself quickly, letting his hand go again.

"Well, I'm here with the results of your blood test, Felicity." Dr. Johnson stopped for a second, looking down at the chart again, before looking at him. He felt Felicity, who had calmed down, lean into his side, holding his hand a little tighter.

"It's alright, whatever it is, Oliver can know. We don't keep secrets from each other," Felicity assured her doctor and he felt a small pang in his chest. Then why didn't she tell him about her condition earlier?

"Well, I'm happy to let you know that you're pregnant, Felicity." The older man smiled and Oliver felt his heart stop.

"What? That's not possible," his girlfriend immediately replied, before he could form any coherent thought. Her voice was steady, piercing through the loud noises of the emergency room. "I just got my birth control shot some weeks ago."

"I would like to send you up to OB so they can perform a full check up, possibly an ultrasound to determine the stage of the pregnancy," Dr Johnson replied calmly, ignoring Felicity's reaction to the news.

"No, this can't be happening right now. There has to be a mistake with the blood work. Can't you do another test?" Her voice was desperate and for the first time since hearing the news, Oliver looked at her.

Her eyes were wide and she looked like a deer caught in the headlights, panic was written all over her face. She was shaking her head in disbelief, clutching the hospital blanket in one hand.

"I'll send a nurse to bring you upstairs, Felicity." The doctor gave him a small, encouraging nod, before turning around and leaving him alone with her.

"No, this can't be happening right now," she repeated and without actually having time to process the news they had just gotten, he felt a sting in his heart at her words.


	2. 11 weeks, Part 2

**A/N: New chapter today! Thank you for leaving reviews, I'll answer them hopefully today or tomorrow, I'm just crazy busy right now!**

 **Thanks goes to my beta reader Afsaint, who is doing a fabulous job at fixing my grammar.**

 **Next chapter will be up soon.**

* * *

In the five years Oliver was away, he had learned to appreciate the silence. Silence meant that nobody was currently attacking him or trying to kill him. Even when he came back, he enjoyed the silence of the foundry more than once, making the rest of the world and all his problems fade away for a little while. Right now though, the silence between Felicity and him was eating him up from the inside. All the times that he had almost died, felt like nothing compared to the torture of Felicity not talking to him. He felt like somebody cut him open, bleeding him slowly, making him aware of every single drop of blood he lost. The sword through his stomach by Ras all those months ago had been fast, sparing him the pain, he was going through now.

Ever since Dr. Johnson had left, neither of them dared to say a word. Even now that they were up in OB in another gray room, which seemed too small for his liking. They were alone, Felicity sitting awkwardly on the little examination table, which was pushed upward into a sitting position, and he was standing beside her, leaning against the wall.

She was fiddling with her hospital gown, her eyes tracking the movement of her hands. Every two minutes, she shifted around on the narrow seat and it was making him nervous. He had just worked up a nerve to say something to her, when the door opened and a brown haired woman entered.

"Hello Felicity, I'm Dr. Danielle Lucas and I will do your exam today," the doctor introduced herself. She briefly shook Felicity's hand, before grabbing his as well and giving it a quick squeeze.

"This is my boyfriend, Oliver," Felicity offered in a small voice and Dr. Lucas looked back to her.

"Well, let's see," she said, opening Felicity's file on the computer. "Your blood test came back with high levels of hCG, which is a hormone that is produced during pregnancy to build the placenta. Those levels reach their high between 9-12 weeks into the pregnancy and seeing that your level is up to over 150,000mIU/ml already, I would also say that you're between 9-12 weeks pregnant."

"I don't understand this," Felicity started again, her hand touching her collarbone, scratching the skin there. "I got my birth control shot some weeks ago, I can't be pregnant."

Hearing the word 'pregnant' coming out of her mouth, made the situation real for him. She was pregnant with his baby. He was going to be a father. He remembered the feeling he got upon seeing Felicity cooing over a newborn Sara almost a year ago and that same feeling spread through his chest again, but one look at Felicity's face made him swallow hard. They were definitely not sharing the sentiment.

"Let's try to figure a few things out first, Felicity. Do you know when your last period was?" Dr. Lucas gave her an encouraging smile, typing something into her computer.

"I don't know. I haven't had a single period in months." She stopped, almost looking guilty, before defending herself, "I've been on the birth control shot for almost two years now and my doctor said it was normal."

He never actually realized that she never had her period in all the months they were away. How could he complain about it? They had an active sex life and he enjoyed every minute of it. It never occurred to him that she could get pregnant, which was of course a dumb assumption on his part.

"It's true. It's perfectly normal to miss your period after being on the shot for over a year." Dr. Lucas typed something into the computer again, before turning to face Felicity. "When were your last two shots?"

"Oliver, can I borrow you phone please?" For the first time since they found out she was pregnant, Felicity actually looked at him. He wasn't sure how it was possible for her to look worse than she did an hour ago, but her face was almost as white as her hospital gown and she looked so incredibly tired. He wanted to touch her so badly, to just hold her hand and assure her that everything was going to be ok. He wanted to envelope her in his arms and never let her go again, but he couldn't.

Taking his phone out of his pocket, he handed it over to her, watching as her fingers flew over the screen for a few seconds, before she studied whatever she just opened.

"I got my last shot on August 5th and the one before that on May 6th." She handed his phone back to him, her fingers grazing his as she placed it in his hand. They were cold and any other day, he would have wrapped his hands around hers to warm them up, but today he pulled back, stuffing it into the pocket of his jeans with his phone.

"Alright, it's recommended to get the shots every twelve weeks as you probably know, and you were only off for a few days, but sometimes that's all it takes," Dr. Lucas sounded up, turning to Felicity.

"This still can't be right. When I got my shot, they did a pregnancy test and it came back negative." Her answer was quick and desperate and he could see that she was running out of excuses.

"Felicity," Dr. Lucas started, her voice softening. "I would like to perform an ultrasound to find out how far along you are and determine any possible abnormalities." She stopped for a second, throwing him a quick glance. "If my assumptions are right, you probably conceived a week before your shot. I assume they did a urine test, which is not as effective in such an early pregnancy, which is why you still got the shot even though you were already pregnant."

"Hold on, is the shot harmful for the baby?" Panic rose in his chest and his throat tightened. He just found out he was going to be a father, and now she was telling him the baby could be hurt.

"Oliver," Felicity started, reaching for his hand and this time he actually grabbed it.

"It is very unlikely." Dr. Lucas smiled encouragingly at him, before looking back to Felicity. "I will measure the baby's size to determine a due date and we'll hear the baby's heartbeat, but you'll have to go to your OB in the next week, so they can do a full screening and set you up with all the necessary information and appointments for the rest of the pregnancy."

Felicity stayed quiet just nodding her head as Dr. Lucas reclined her chair a bit, asking her to lift up her hospital gown so they could start the scan.

His heart started to beat faster upon seeing Felicity's belly. She certainly didn't have an obvious bump yet, but the weight she had gained on her belly, even though it was hardly noticeable, was due to their baby. Suddenly, his hand itched to touch her belly, to lay his hand over it, over their child, but he kept his hand in Felicity's.

The doctor squished some gel onto her stomach, before placing the transducer onto her stomach it and slowly moving around, spreading the gel.

"And right here," she stopped moving the transducer low on Felicity's stomach, pointing to the screen with her other hand, "is your baby. Congratulations."

She gave them a gentle smile, but he hardly noticed. His eyes were glued to the small screen, focusing on the small white shape that was his child. He couldn't make out the exact shape of the baby, but he could definitely see the small head and the body and it was more than enough for him.

A fast thumping sounded through the room and his heart stopped for a second. His eyes widened and a small smile formed on his face.

"And there is you baby's heartbeat. Strong and healthy," Dr. Lucas explained.

Time stopped and all he could think about was their baby. The fast thumbing of the baby's heart was going to be his new favorite sound from now on and he gave Felicity's hand a small squeeze, before looking down at her. His face fell as he saw her blankly staring at the screen, her lips pressed into a tight line. She was breathing heavily through her nose and a wave of hurt filled his chest. She didn't want this. She didn't want to be pregnant.

"You due date should be around April 18th next year, making you 11 weeks pregnant. The baby is about 6cm long right now, which is just right and we've got a healthy and steady heartbeat, as you can hear." She looked up to him, offering him a small smile, before looking back to Felicity. "Remember to still go to your doctor in the next two weeks. For now, I'll prescribe you some prenatal vitamins you should take daily. I know that morning sickness can be hard and tiring, but it is important to not skip any meals during the day."

The doctor turned off the ultrasound machine, giving Felicity some paper towels to wipe off the gel. She took them hastily, cleaning her stomach in record time, before quickly smoothing her hospital gown down again and letting his hand go. Her hands ran over her belly and she quickly lifted her hands away as if they burned, pushing them under her legs to sit on.

Dr. Lucas studied her for a second, before handing him the paper with Felicity's prescription. "It was nice to meet you, Felicity and Oliver. I wish you the best for your pregnancy." With that she got up, leaving the room, once again leaving them in complete silence.

Stepping closer to her, he put his hand on her shoulder. "Felicity ..."

"No, just ... I can't talk about this right now," she interrupted him, shrugging his hand off her shoulder as she slid off the chair.

He stepped back, giving her space. As much as he wanted to know what was going on in her head right now, he decided to give her some time for herself, respecting need her be left alone.

* * *

When they arrived at the penthouse, Felicity went straight to their bedroom, shutting the door behind her and he let her. He gave her exactly one hour to come to terms with the news.

He was walking down the hallway, a cup of steaming hot tea in one hand and a grilled cheese sandwich on a plate in the other. Stopping in front of the bedroom door, he took a deep breath.

It hurt to know that there was even a possibility of her not wanting their baby. He never actually thought about having children, considering his past and current lifestyle, until he had seen Diggle, Lyla, Felicity and Sara in the hospital last year. Diggle and Lyla were glowing, their eyes almost never leaving their newborn daughter. Even Felicity had cooed at the baby and in that moment, all kinds of different images had run through his head. Instead of Lyla, Felicity was sitting in the hospital bed, holding their newborn baby in her arms. He was sitting beside her, holding her close to him, while his other hand softly brushed their daughter's cheek. Last year, he had banned those images out of his head, but listening to the baby's heartbeat and seeing it on the small screen today made him remember his dream.

He wanted this life with Felicity. He wanted to marry her, make her his wife and have children with her. He actually couldn't think about anything else right now, actually considering never coming back as the Arrow in the first place.

For the last hour, he had researched the internet for anything pregnancy related. It felt weird, but after thinking, even if it was only for a minute, that the baby could be hurt from Felicity's birth control shot, he didn't want to take any more risks. He knew it wasn't Felicity's fault and he didn't blame her, but he felt better knowing some important things about pregnancy.

Opening the door, he walked into the semi-dark room. The window blinds were down and his eyes searched for Felicity. He found her curled up on their bed, lying on her side wrapped in the comforter. Her knees were almost touching her chest and her head was buried in his pillow.

Quietly walking closer to the bed, he sat the teacup and the sandwich down on her nightstand, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"I brought you some food and tea. I thought you might be hungry," he whispered.

"I'm not hungry, Oliver." Her voice was rough. Did she cry?

"Felicity, you need to eat something. It's not good for ..." He stopped, swallowing the last few words, settling on something safer. "I don't want you going to the hospital again."

"I said I'm not hungry, Oliver," she pressed the words out and he wished he could see her face. She was lying with her back to him, her face hidden in his pillow.

Sighing, he laid down next to her, scooting closer to her. His hand reached for shoulder and she flinched at his soft touch, before relaxing her stiff posture just the slightest. Oliver took this as an invitation to press himself closer to her, throwing his leg over hers. His hand smoothed down her arm, intertwining his fingers with hers that were resting close under her chin. He pressed a gentle kiss onto her neck, savoring the small moment between them, before letting out a shaky breath.

"I know you don't want to talk about it, but I can't wait any longer, Felicity," he started and he felt her tense in his arms. "I just ... I just need to know why you're taking this so hard."

"Why am I taking this so hard?" She rolled out of his arms, sitting up on the bed. "Are you kidding me, Oliver?"

He sat up too, taking in her red, puffy eyes, before lowering his gaze onto his hands. "I just don't understand, Felicity."

"I'm pregnant, Oliver. Pregnant. What is there not to understand?" She was stating the obvious, avoiding his question again.

"What is so bad about that?"

"What's bad about it?" Her voice got louder and she shook her head. "We're not ready for this, Oliver. This is not the right time!"

He reached for her hand, but she slid further away on the bed. "Felicity, please. I know this is sudden, but we can make it work." He didn't mean to sound so desperate, but he couldn't help it. "Let's just talk about this."

"Don't you get it? I don't wanna talk about it!" She got off the bed, walking over to the window, wrapping her cardigan tighter around herself.

"Well, I don't care." Pushing her was never good, but he didn't see any other way. "This isn't about you anymore. This is about our baby. Like it or not you're pregnant and in less than nine months, we're going to have a baby. You can't keep ignoring the obvious."

"You don't have to tell me, I'm well aware! It's growing inside of me, Oliver."

"Stop it, Felicity! It's our baby not an 'it'!" He roared and she flinched at his loud voice. Immediately regretting his loud tone, he climbed off the bed, his voice turning soft. "I'm sorry for yelling. It's just... I love you, Felicity and I love this baby." He paused, walking closer to her, stopping right behind her. "I know it's soon, but we can't change it now."

He heard her sniffle, her head hanging down. Stepping closer to her, he wrapped his arm around her middle, his hand coming to rest on her still flat belly. His thumb gently rubbed up and down over her shirt, until her hand came to rest on his, pushing his hands away.

"I just can't do this, Oliver. I'm sorry," she sobbed, turning around to him.

His heart broke into a million pieces at her words, and he balled his hands to fists.

"So you're going to get rid of our child? How could you possibly do this?" His words echoed through the room and for the first time since leaving the hospital, she looked at him.

"Out!" She pressed out. "I can't even look at you right now." Her sobs stopped, and she gritted her teeth, her voice turning bitter. "If you really think that I would even consider getting an abortion, especially with your baby, you don't know me at all."

Regretting his words for a second time this afternoon, he bowed his head. "Felicity... I'm sorry."

"Get out!" She said in her loud voice and he knew he had lost. Grabbing his pillow from their bed, he left through the open door, not even bothering closing it.

* * *

He couldn't sleep that night for two reasons.

The first was the uncomfortable sofa in the living room. They just bought the necessary furniture when they moved in last week, not having enough time to think about the rest of the rooms just yet. Even though the sofa wasn't necessarily too hard or too short, he couldn't fit his body on the narrow cushion, one of his arms always hanging off the side.

The other reason was his fight with Felicity. Once he had left her, he had paced the living room for a good half an hour, before finally giving up and sitting down. He just sat there for another hour, listening to her crying through the open bedroom door and he ached to go back to her and hold her, but he wasn't what she needed at the moment.

After some time her crying had stopped, fading into tiny sniffles, until even those died down. It took him another good 40 minutes, until he convinced himself to go check on her. When he had peeked into the bedroom, he saw her asleep on his side of the bed, the teacup and plate empty. Quietly moving into the room, he moved over to her, pulling the comforter over her shoulders, pressing a short kiss onto her forehead. She didn't even stir and he allowed himself another minute of just looking at her. Her eyes and nose were red from crying, her cheeks flushed and stained with dried tears.

Sighing, he went back to the living room and tried to get some sleep. Of course, sleep hadn't come and now at six in the morning, he was still wide-awake.

Noises from the bedroom made him sit up and he listened carefully for her movements. He heard her get up and go into their bathroom, turning on the shower. Was she actually planning to go to work?

Rubbing his eyes, he got up, making his way into the kitchen when he heard her gagging in the shower. Without much thought, he ran into the bathroom, opening the shower door and reaching for her.

It didn't bother him that his shirt and sweatpants were soaked in a few seconds. The only important thing for him was holding her back against his chest, supporting her weight with one arm and lifting her wet hair out of her face with his other.

She hurled again and he pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder, whispering words of comfort. It was terrible to see her like this and he couldn't imagine how she managed to hide this from him.

Once he was sure that she was done vomiting, he turned her around, wrapping her in his arms. Her arms came around him and she pressed herself closer to him. A sigh of relief left his mouth and he pressed a kiss to her hair, realizing that it was still soapy.

"I'm sorry I got you all wet," she apologized; her voice rough and low and he almost didn't hear it.

"I don't care," he pressed another kiss to her forehead, before pulling back, framing her face with his hands. "Are you feeling better?"

She nodded. "Thank you."

He gave her a soft smile, before letting go of her and taking off his wet clothes, one by one, letting them fall into the corner of the shower. Thank god, for the big shower they had.

Stepping close to her again, he helped wash her hair, making sure that all the shampoo was out.

"I'll be right back," he said, stepping out and reaching for a towel.

He quickly dried himself, running into the bedroom to put on some clothes, before going back into the bathroom and helping Felicity out of the shower. Helping her dry herself, he wrapped her into her fluffy white bathrobe, before guiding her back to the bedroom and onto their bed.

She lay down, curling onto her left side and he mimicked her position, facing her. Her hand reached for his, intertwining their fingers, letting them rest in between them.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, pressing a kiss onto the back of her hand. "I shouldn't have pushed you yesterday. And I should have never said those things to you. I do know you, Felicity."

"I know, but it still hurt." Looking at their hands, she stayed quiet for a minute. "I'm sorry too. For shutting you out and yelling at you."

"You had every right to yell but shutting me out..." He paused, taking a deep breath. "Shutting me out hurt. I thought we were done lying to each other. We spent months being open and honest about everything and you not telling me that you've been feeling sick for days hurt. It felt like we were taking a step back."

Her eyes flew up to his, and she swallowed hard. "I never meant to hurt you, Oliver."

"I know." He reached for her, his hand landing on her hip as he pulled her closer until their foreheads were touching. "How about we try to go back to talking about things? Starting with you being pregnant."

Puffing out some air, Felicity closed her eyes. "As much as I don't want to I know that we should, and I'll try not to let my anger get away with me again. I don't like fighting with you."

"Me neither."

They were silent again, nobody knowing how to start without upsetting the other.

"I saw your face when we saw the baby yesterday. And I saw how you literally lit up like a Christmas tree," a short chuckle left her mouth, "when you heard the heartbeat." Taking a deep breath, Felicity wrapped her other hand around their linked ones. "It took me one second to realize that you loved that baby more than anything, after seeing her ... or him for the first time." Opening her eyes, she looked at their hands again. "And that's alright. That's just who you are. I know you don't like to hear it, but you have a big heart, Oliver, and you love easily."

He opened his mouth to object, but she gave him a small shake off her head and he stopped.

"It's not that I don't want to have this baby. I do, but I hoped that we would have had more time together first. It's selfish of me, I know, but we just came back and we are basically starting our new life together in Starling." She huffed. "I just found out that I'm the CEO of a fortune 500 company and you are trying to find a way to come back as the Arrow or whoever else.

"There is just so much going on in our lives right now that I feel like a baby might be the straw to break the camel's back. I just hoped that we would have had more time together for us."

She still didn't look at him, and he gently pushed her chin up, letting his hand cup her cheek. Tears were shimmering in her eyes and he gulped. "If you're worried about me leaving you, that's never going to happen. You're stuck with me." He paused, smoothing a stray tear away. "I know that our lives are crazy right now and being pregnant isn't something easy either, but no matter how crazy you get, I won't leave you."

The corner of her lips tugged upwards and her lips parted slightly. He held her gaze, trying to convince her that he was speaking the truth.

"Just give me some time to come to terms with it on my own."

He let out a huge breath; he didn't even know he was holding, before detangling their fingers and pulling her against his chest.

"I will. I promise."


	3. 15 week, Part 1

**A/N: New chapter today! Next one will be up soon, but probably not before August 2nd or 3rd, because I'm moving back to Germany this week and I need to focus on that for the week. Sorry guys!**

 **Thanks goes to my beta reader Afsaint, who is doing a fabulous job at fixing my grammar.**

* * *

Putting the cup of steaming hot ginger tea on the counter, Oliver turned back to the sink, washing the strawberries.

Four weeks had passed since they found out that Felicity was pregnant and it was a rollercoaster of emotions and long discussions. The first few days were the hardest, because Felicity was distant, spending a lot of time by herself and since he promised her that he would give her time, he let her be, even though he missed her. A week later, they went to Felicity's gynecologist together, getting her set up with appointments and information for the rest of the pregnancy. This time, Felicity seemed more at ease, asking some questions concerning working late in her pregnancy and traveling. During the ultrasound, she had grabbed his hand, squeezing it and pulling him into her side on her own. He smiled at her, kissing her head, happy to see her reaching out for him again. After that she started talking to him again slowly, asking him to come to lunch with her or to just sit with her on the couch. He wasn't allowed to touch her stomach and even though his hand itched to reach out to touch it, he restrained himself and grabbed her hand instead. She still came home exhausted every single day and he refused to take her to the new lair with him, which led them into another big discussion with crying from her side. In the end, she had agreed to stay home for as long as it took him to set up the lair, but once he started to go out again at night, she would come with him. He reluctantly agreed, not wanting to upset her more, leaving that part of the discussion for a later time.

The beeping of the toaster interrupted his thoughts and he took the bread out, putting it on a plate with the strawberries he had just washed. Making Felicity breakfast was something he had started early on their road trip and it was one of the few things that didn't change when they came back. He woke up earlier than she did anyway and he liked being able to give her some extra minutes to sleep, knowing that she was going to have a long day at the office.

"Felicity, breakfast's ready," he called through the house as he put the plate next to the cup of tea on the counter. Listening for the tapping of her bare feet, he turned around in confusion when he didn't hear it. "Felicity?" He tried again, making his way into their bedroom. Looking through the door, he couldn't see her anywhere, but the light in their walk-in closet was shining through the half-closed door and a second later, he heard a tiny sniffle coming out of the closet. Walking through the bedroom, he pushed the door open and stood in the doorway. She was standing with her back to him, facing the racks with her clothes, her arms on her hips. She was only wearing a bra and one of her tight pencil skirts that made her butt look amazing.

"Felicity, what's wrong?" He tentatively asked, leaning against the doorframe. One thing he had learned quickly in the last few weeks was to approach her carefully when she was having mood swings. A week earlier when he had found her crying in the bathroom, because none of her bras fit anymore, he had tried to hug her, and she almost hit him with her brush, screaming at him to never touch her again. She had apologized later, but he learned from his mistake.

Focusing on her again, he saw how her shoulders were shaking from the tiny sobs that left her throat and he resisted the urge to embrace her right this second.

"I popped!" She turned around, her face stricken with tears. She looked down at her belly and his breath caught in his throat. He immediately knew what she meant with popped, looking at the very present bump that was sticking out of her unzipped pencil skirt.

She had gained some weight around her belly in the last few weeks, but yesterday morning it still didn't look like a real bump. When he had seen her naked in the shower, he didn't notice anything.

Now, her stomach was round, literally sticking out of her skirt, and all he wanted to do was lay his hand over it and wait for the baby to move, but he forced himself not to move his hands towards her. He let his hands hang down his sides, knowing that she still wasn't comfortable with him touching her belly and that it was still too early in her pregnancy to actually feel something. A few nights back his curiosity had gotten the better of him while they were lying in bed at night, and he had placed his hand under her shirt, immediately feeling the unfamiliar firmness that replaced the usual softness he loved so much. Not ten seconds later, Felicity had moved and he quickly pulled his hand back, feeling like a child that was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

It didn't take him long to realize the problem at hand: her clothes weren't fitting her anymore.

"Felicity ..." He whispered, opening his arms. She literally threw herself into them, clinging to him as if he was her lifeline. Her tears soaked his shirt and he let her cry, gently rubbing her back.

"Nothing fits anymore and I don't know how to hide it any longer," she sniffled, pressing her cheek against his chest. "I feel fat, Oliver."

A chuckle left his lips and he pressed a kiss onto her head, before pulling away from her and framing her face with his hands. His thumbs wiped her tears away and he tilted her head upwards. "You're not fat, Felicity, you're pregnant. I'm sorry our baby decided to make his or her presence known today, but we knew the day would come."

Fresh tears formed in her eyes. "Why today? I have a meeting with PT's most important investor and I can't mess this up!"

"Sweetheart, our baby doesn't change how brilliant you are." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "And if anything, you're even more beautiful now."

"You have to say that because it's your fault I look like this in the first place," she muttered, bringing her hands up to his chest.

"Guilty." A smile formed on his face. "I take the whole blame for it. It's just not in my willpower to resist such a beautiful woman."

And just like that her mood seemed to have changed again, a laugh escaping her lips. He pulled her closer, lowering his lips onto hers, giving her a soft kiss.

"Maybe we're both to blame." She bit her lip, looking at her hands on his chest. "I'm pretty sure, I was responsible for at least half of the times we had sex on our road trip."

"Oh, you definitely were, Miss Smoak!" He laughed. He missed being with her like this. They hadn't had sex in over six weeks now. First, they were too busy with getting back to their old lives. He was helping Lyla, Thea and Laurel with getting Diggle back, who was kidnapped by H.I.V.E, and Felicity split her time between helping them and stepping up as CEO of Palmer Technologies. It didn't leave them with much time alone, and at the end of the day they were too exhausted to even think about doing anything else but sleep. Almost right after that, they found out about the pregnancy and he was just happy these days when Felicity allowed him to hold her at night. It almost seemed like she didn't want him to touch her anymore, but when he had started to read the pregnancy book he bought a few days later, he found out that it was normal for women in their early pregnancy to be less intimate with their partners due to all the changes their body was going through. Adding the fact that she wasn't too comfortable with her pregnancy anyway, he just accepted that fact that he wasn't going to get any in the next few weeks.

"We'll have to do a press conference," Felicity interrupted his thoughts and he looked down at her. "As much as I want to keep this to ourselves, I really can't hide this anymore." She gestured to her belly that was sandwiched in between them.

Ever since they had come back and Felicity started her position as CEO of Palmer Technologies, she was standing in the spotlight. She was one of the youngest CEOs of the country and suddenly everybody started to notice her. People loved her and the fact that she was dating Oliver Queen, former owner of her company, was just the icing on the cake. He could only imagine what it would mean to announce their pregnancy.

"I know, everything is going to work out just fine, don't worry." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'll take a shower and I'll come with you to work today. The PR team can work up a statement, we'll have a small press conference and that's it."

"Thank you, Oliver." She wrapped her arms around him again, squeezing him. "I'm sorry you have to put up with me."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Giving her a short squeeze, he let her go. "Now you better find something to wear, because I'll be the only one to ever see you like this."

Her face fell again and she sighed, turning back to her closet. "If I can find something that will fit my boobs and my belly, sure, but they both seem to be huge these days, so this will be a challenge."

"I can't exactly complain, sorry."

She looked back over her shoulder, throwing him a pointed look. He chuckled softly, looking her up and down, before throwing her a wink and leaving.

* * *

After he finished his shower, it took him another ten minutes to help Felicity find something that still fit her. She ended up wearing a slightly older dress, much to her dismay, which fit over her belly, still showing it off though. They found a long coat that hid the features of her belly for the time they were walking to PT, hopefully giving them enough time to release a short statement, before any rumors would start.

An hour later, they stepped out of the elevator at Palmer Technologies together and onto the 36th floor. Felicity walked next to him stiffly, and he gave her hand a soft squeeze.

"Relax, Felicity. You have nothing to worry about," he whispered in her ear as they walked around the corner into Gerry's office.

"Miss Smoak, good morning." He paused briefly. "Mister Queen, I didn't expect you here today." He stood up from his chair, smoothing his shirt and tie down looking up at him almost nervous.

"What did I tell you, Gerry? My name is Felicity and this is Oliver," his girlfriend scolded her assistant while nervously tugging at her open jacket. The young man blushed, looking down onto his desk.

Oliver pulled Felicity into his side, letting go of her hand and wrapping his arm around her waist. He knew that the young man knew better than to make a pass on Felicity in front of him, or generally ever, but he was still protective of her, even more so now that she was pregnant.

"Can I bring you something, Felicity? Your meeting with PR is in 10 minutes." Felicity shook her head and Gerry looked over to him. "Do you need anything, Oliver?"

"No, thank you, Gerry, and Mr. Queen is fine." He saw the young man in front of him swallow and he pushed Felicity into her office, not waiting for his answer.

"Why can't you just leave the poor guy alone?" Felicity asked him, taking off her coat, before sitting down on the sofa. It surprised him that she actually took off her coat, giving him, Gerry and everybody who would step onto the floor a good view of her bump.

"You and I both know that he has a crush on you," he answered, sitting down next to her on the sofa, before adding, "I was nice."

"He's too young for me anyway." She waved her hand in dismissal, before looking over to him, seeing his mortified face. "I also have a boyfriend and I don't think he likes sharing."

Facing her, he leaned closer, until his lips brushed her ear, growling, "Damn right I don't like to share." He pressed a kiss onto her neck, right under her ear as a short giggle left her mouth.

"You're such a caveman sometimes, I mean seriously." She threw her arm over his shoulder, pulling him in for a short kiss. "I'm happy with you and I wouldn't do anything to change that."

It has been a while since she told him that she was happy with their relationship and he smiled softly. Taking advantage of her current contentment, he carefully placed his hand on her belly, giving it a soft caress.

"I'm happy with you too."

Her whole body stilled once his hand touched her belly and she was taking steady calm breathes. Not wanting to push his luck, he gave her belly one last rub, before removing his hand. He felt her relax again, and he pressed a kiss against her cheek as a silent thank you for giving him a minute and not pushing him away.

A knock on the door, made him turn away from her, breaking the tension in the room.

Gillian Smith was standing in the door, looking at them with a smile on her face.

"Gillian, good morning. Thank you for coming on such late notice. You remember Oliver, right?" Felicity stood up, ignoring the fact that the woman in front of her had a perfect view of her belly now. It was like she had switched on her business mode and for some reason it turned him on.

"I do. Hello, Oliver." She greeted him and he gave her a quick nod as he watched her shamelessly glance at Felicity's midsection. "The rest of the team is tied up, working on the draft for the press statement about the new software release next week. If it's ok, we'll do this without them for now."

"Very well," Felicity said, gesturing to the sofa on the opposite side. She waited until Gillian sat down, before sitting down as well. "I don't want to beat around the bush here, because I'm sure you already noticed too." She looked over to him, taking his hand in hers. "Oliver and I are having a baby."

They hadn't told anybody yet. Not his sister or her mother or Diggle and the rest of their friends. He had brought it up once, but Felicity wanted to wait until she started showing. Thinking about it now though, he realized that he should have probably pushed her some more. If they didn't want their friends to find out about the pregnancy from the press, they needed to tell them today.

"Well, I guess congratulations are in order then," Gillian gave them a friendly smile, before turning a little more serious. "I won't lie to you, Felicity. I'm happy for both of you, but not everybody will share this sentiment. Some of the board members may use this against you, questioning your loyalty to the company. Pregnancy and motherhood consume a lot of time, but so does being a CEO of a fortune 500 company."

Anger filled him and he scooted closer to Felicity, ready to defend her, but she let go of his hand, placing her own reassuringly on his knee and stopped him from saying anything. She looked back at Gillian, her eyes boring into the woman that sat opposite of them.

"Let me get one thing straight, Gillian." She paused, her tone turning cold, almost threatening. "If I have to take some time off for the health of my baby or myself, then I will do that."

If he had known that she was that good at handling people, he would have made her CEO a long time ago. He always knew that she was a strong, opinionated woman who never withheld her point of view, but he never actually saw her stepping up like that for herself. Even though the pregnancy threw her off and wasn't easy for her, she still defended the baby to someone. She constantly surprised him.

He lifted his arm over her shoulder, laying his hand on her waist as the woman opposite from him crossed her legs, seemingly thinking about her next words carefully.

"Very well," Gillian started, folding her hands together, placing them on her legs. "Queen Consolidated's image was always about family and I don't see a reason to not go back to that. Most of our employees have families and bringing this image back isn't necessarily a bad idea. Your pregnancy would be a good start." She briefly looked at him, before looking back to Felicity. "Have you put some thought into changing the company's name again? I wouldn't go back to QC, but something along the lines of Queen Tech would work."

He uncomfortably shifted around in his seat, looking to Felicity as he opened his mouth to voice his opinion on the assumption of going back to the Queen name, but Felicity beat him to it yet again.

"When I decide to change my company's name, Gillian, you'll be the first to know," Felicity countered, pushing her glasses up her nose. "For now, I need you to work on the news of our pregnancy."

"Of course, I can draft up something and send it back to you. We can do a small press conference this afternoon, asking for privacy," Gillian offered, picking up her tablet from the sofa next to her. "How about a picture?"

Felicity shifted in her seat, before looking up to him. He put a reassuring hand on her back while looking into her eyes. He didn't mind either, but he also wasn't the one who it would affect most. It was her call.

She held his gaze for a second longer, before turning back to Gillian. "We'll do a picture with one of PT's photographer's and release it with the official statement."

Gillian nodded. "What about questions?"

"No questions today. The only thing they need to know is that I'm pregnant and due in April."

"Alright, that is all I need. I'll set everything up and send you the statement in about an hour. Does that work for you?"

"Yes, perfect, thank you." Felicity stood up, extending her hand to the older woman who gave it a quick shake, before excusing herself and leaving.

Felicity turned back to him, rubbing a hand over her forehead. "I can't believe we are doing this." A soft sigh left her mouth.

"It'll be alright, don't worry." He stood up, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You have nothing to worry about. You're brilliant and our baby doesn't change that, remember?" He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "We should think about telling the others though, especially your mother. She will have my head if she finds out from the press that her only daughter is pregnant."

"She doesn't watch the news." Felicity said offhandedly, but then her eyes widened and she grabbed his arm. "I totally forgot about her. She's so going to kill me for not telling her earlier."

He chuckled, pulling out his phone and scrolling to find Donna's number. "I will call her right now and we can tell her together."

"I'm warning you, Oliver. She's going to freak out."

* * *

Donna Smoak did freak out. She screamed for a whole minute, before bombarding them with questions. They ended up FaceTiming her and Felicity dutifully showed her the little bump. Donna was delighted, promising to send them pictures from when Felicity was a baby and a little journal she kept during her first year. Felicity for once seemed relaxed, even touching her belly twice while they were talking with her mother. He was sure, she didn't really realize she was doing it, but he was happy that she finally accepted the idea of their baby.

He entered the loft, a place which still brought back bad memories from earlier this year. They decided that Felicity was going to tell Diggle while he was going to tell Thea about their news, both having individual lunch dates before the press conference this afternoon.

His relationship with Diggle was still strained. He had kidnapped his wife, leaving his daughter alone in their house, even if it was just for less than ten minutes and Maeso was watching her from afar. Now that he was going to be a father himself, he finally understood the significance of his actions, regretting ever touching Lyla and Sara in the first place. He counted himself lucky that both of them were still talking to him.

"Ollie, what brings you here?" Thea ripped him out of his thoughts, appearing at the top of the stairs. "Felicity didn't kick you out, did she? Because whatever you did, I'm on her side."

Furrowing his brows in confusion, he shook his head. "No, Felicity didn't kick me out. And I'm not sure if I should be more concerned about the fact that you think she would kick me out or that you would take her side. I'm still not sure when exactly you became best buddy's."

"Don't worry, brother, I won't steal her away from you." She came down the stairs, walking into the kitchen. "What can I do for you?"

"I brought lunch." He held up the takeout bag in his hand. "Why don't we eat together?"

It was Thea's turn to raise her eyebrows at him. "Why can't you just tell me what's going on?"

He puffed out some air, looking at his sister who had put her arms onto her hips, narrowing her eyes. He was not going to win this. Putting the take-out bag onto the kitchen counter next to him, he leaned against the chair. "Well, Felicity and I have some news."

"Oh my god, you decided that to move back to the beach house?!" Thea interrupted him, her arms falling down her sides. He shook his head in confusion, before opening his mouth again, but Thea once again, interrupted him. "You proposed to Felicity?"

"No, Thea."

She started again, but he held up his hand, stopping her. "Will you let me finish please?" Thea nodded and he took a deep breath. "Felicity and I are having a baby."

For a second, his sister just stared at him and he grew worried that she wouldn't be as excited about the news, but then she threw herself in his arms, squeezing him. "That's great, Ollie! Congratulations. I'm gonna be an aunt," she said and a squeal left her mouth.

He pressed a kiss to her head, glad that she took the news so well. "Thank you, Thea."

She pulled away from him, giving him a genuine smile. "How far along is Felicity?"

"How about we eat lunch and I can answer all your questions?" He suggested, pointing to the take-out bags on the kitchen counter. "We don't want the food to get cold."

Thea nodded and they grabbed the bag, sitting down on the sofa together. He hadn't even started chewing his first bite when Thea looked at him with big eyes. "So? I need some details, Ollie. Where is Felicity when you need her?"

A soft chuckle left his lips and he quickly chewed his food, swallowing before clearing his throat. "Felicity is actually telling Diggle and Lyla right now. We're giving a press conference this afternoon, so I can't stay too long."

"Hold on, you're already giving a press conference? How far along is she? Is she already showing? I just saw her on Friday last week," Thea exclaimed, before taking another bite.

"She is 15 weeks pregnant. The baby's coming in late April," he offered. Seeing his sister disapproving face, he added, "We found out about five weeks ago, when Felicity fainted at PT. Let just say, she wasn't as excited about the idea of having a baby right now as I was." He took another bite.

"What do you mean she wasn't as excited? Doesn't she want the baby?"

Sighing, he swallowed his bite, putting his take-out container on the coffee table. There was no way he was going to be able to eat and answer all his sister's questions.

"We didn't exactly plan on having a baby; we actually never really talked about it." He looked down onto his hands. "I think we both knew that it was something that we wanted in the future. We just came back and Ray left Felicity the company. Being a CEO of a fortune 500 company isn't exactly easy, especially when some people question your judgment. Felicity's brilliant. She is the youngest CEO in the country right now, and I have no doubt that she will be outstanding, bringing the company to new levels, but right now, she needs to prove that to everybody else." He looked up to Thea who was still chewing on her food. "She's stressed out and the first few weeks haven't exactly been easy on her. She had bad morning sickness and her emotions are all over the place. Her body is going through some changes right now, and I just think that she's a little insecure about handling her job, our nighttime job and a baby."

"She's ok though, right?" His sister asked, putting her fork into her now empty take-out container.

"She's alright. We still don't talk a lot about the baby and I'm not allowed to touch her right now, but she's coming to term with things."

"You're not allowed to touch her?" She asked surprised, her brows furrowing.

He shook his head, smiling softly. "That's all you got from that?" Thea tilted her head, squinting her eyes at him, so he continued, "This morning I found her crying in our closet, because," he lifted his finger up, "and I quote - she popped." He smiled softly at the memory of her standing in front of him, only clad in a bra and too tight skirt, her stomach sticking out. "She has a little baby bump and she can't hide it anymore."

"Now, I understand the need for a press conference. Everybody needs to know about the Queen baby." He threw her a pointed look and she just waved him off. "You and I both know that you're gonna make her a Queen before this baby comes."

He kept his mouth shut at her words, but the corner of his lips lifted up.

"Anyway, I will call her later today. Maybe we can go shopping together."

"Just don't push her into buying any baby clothes yet, I don't think she is ready for that yet." He reminded her, picking up his now cold food as she nodded. "Thank you, Thea."


	4. 15 weeks, Part 2

**A/N: I'm back in Germany, so I will hopefully have more time now!**

 **Thanks goes to my beta reader Afsaint, who is doing a fabulous job at fixing my grammar.**

* * *

Felicity sat in her office chair, reading a report from Applied Sciences, waiting for Diggle, Lyla and Sara to come meet her for lunch. Oliver was right. They needed to tell their friends before the press conference this afternoon, but she also couldn't leave her office without everyone seeing her baby bump, so she invited them to her office, getting a quizzical ok from Diggle over the phone.

Looking down she peered at the roundness of her belly. Being pregnant was really not easy. She felt like her own body was betraying her. She was exhausted all the time and at the end of the day, she was barely able to keep her eyes open. Never in her life did she feel this drained after a day at the office. Then there was the morning sickness that sometimes lasted all day long and happening in the worst situations. One time she was sitting in a board meeting next to one of the board members, who used way too much aftershave, and she felt like she was going to throw up any second. She kept asking Gerry to bring her some water with fresh lime, almost drinking nonstop to have a different smell in her nose. That however made her pee and when the meeting was finally over, she went back to her office to cry for a good ten minutes. Yes, there were the constant mood swings. Her emotions were all over the place. One minute she was happy and the next she felt like crying; like this morning when she had realized nothing fit her anymore. Of course, she knew that it was going to happen at some point, she had just hoped that it would be a slow transition.

It was just hard to feel happy about bring a new life into the world with everything that was going on. It wasn't the right time. They've just come back from their beach house in Coast City and after being away for so long, it was hard to pick up and go back to their old lives; especially, because they had changed in the five months they were away. They were happy with each other and their relationship was great. They had found a routine that worked for them and coming back to Starling City, felt like they lost everything they had established. Surprisingly, Oliver took it much better than she did, helping Lyla, Laurel and Thea with getting back Diggle, who was held hostage by H.I.V.E, without so much as blinking. He easily slipped back into his old identity as a hero, even without his costume, and for a second, she was afraid that he was going to break up with her. As soon as they came back to the team's lair though, which was now in Thea's loft ever since Ray left, he had moved over to her, bending down and giving her a gentle kiss. In general, he didn't seem too fussed with coming back and she couldn't blame him. They still had friends here and she did miss the Diggle's, Laurel and Thea, but she wished that coming back here wasn't so stressful. The real reason they had come back to Starling in the first place was because of her, because Ray had left her the company and she was the new CEO of Palmer Technologies. She could have refused the job, but it was still Oliver's old company; a company that his parents had built with their own hands. When she had told him about the transfer of ownership, he seemed happy and exited and again, she couldn't blame him. It was his family's legacy after all and she wasn't about to just hand it over to someone else again.

Upon officially accepting her new job, she hadn't realized what it meant to be a CEO. Sure, she was PT's vice president for almost a year and she knew the company inside out, but being the CEO was so much more work. Especially because everybody seemed to question her judgment, giving her more meetings than she already had on her busy schedule. All because they wanted to make sure that she knew what she was doing. It wasn't hard to convince people of her brilliance, because apparently, she wasn't as socially awkward with business partner's as she was with her friends, but it stilled added to her stress level.

Finding out she was pregnant, was the last thing she needed at that moment. She wanted to have children, just not right now, but it happened and she couldn't change it. The last few weeks were stressful, the pregnancy making her life harder than it already was, but coming home to Oliver and seeing a happy smile on his face, after not seeing him all day, made it somehow worth it. He was so excited about their baby, always making sure that she was ok and comfortable with everything. He accepted her need for some time to get used to everything, suppressing his own needs just to make sure she was all right. He was wonderful and sometimes she felt bad, rejecting his touch these days, but she just didn't feel comfortable in her own skin right now.

Thinking about Oliver made her sigh and she put her papers aside, just in time to see Gerry peeking in through her office door.

"Felicity? Mr. Diggle and his family are here," he informed her, pointing behind him to the three people standing in his office.

Felicity loved Gerry. Not like she loved Oliver, of course, but he was a good assistant, always keeping her on top of things. She knew that he had a crush on her and it reminded her of the time that she was Oliver's executive assistant. It was such a cliché, but apparently a very real one. Unfortunately for Gerry, his crush wasn't going to end in a happy ending like hers did and he knew that. He even gave her a small smile upon seeing her little belly earlier.

"Thank you, please send them in," she answered, standing up. Taking a deep breath, she stood up, smoothing her dress down, her hands running over her belly for a second. Why were all her clothes so form-fitting?

She plastered a smile onto her face as she saw Diggle, Lyla and Sara walking into her office. Sara was gurgling happy in her mother's arms, a smile on her face upon seeing her and Felicity's smile turned genuine.

"Hey guys," Felicity greeted them, stepping out from behind her desk.

John and Lyla stopped walking, their mouths opening almost at the same time as they shamelessly looked at her midsection. Their eyes widened and they looked at each other for a second, before turning back to her.

Silence filled the room and Felicity wondered if the two of them actually knew how in sync they were, even outside their jobs. It amazed her.

"Felicity," Lyla whispered stunned.

"Well, there is no point in beating around the bush here, I guess." Felicity let out a nervous laugh. "I'm pregnant." She gestured to her stomach, pushing her hips forward, her hands landing on her waist.

Silence filled the room again and Felicity awkwardly shifted from one foot to the other. It was Sara's squeals that broke the silence and Felicity walked over to her, taking her out of her mother's arm.

"Lis," she said together with a few incoherent babbles and Felicity pressed a kiss to her head.

"Hi, pretty girl. How are we today?"

Sara gave her a big smile, showing her the new set of teeth she had just gotten and Felicity chuckled softly. She loved the little baby. Well technically, she wasn't a little baby anymore, she actually just turned one a few weeks ago, and she was already running around, but in Felicity's mind, Sara was going to be a baby forever.

"Well at least you know how to handle the little ones," Diggle huffed. "Congratulations, Felicity. I'm happy for you." He stepped forward, enveloping her in a short hug, taking Sara out of her arms again.

"You're gonna be a great mom, Felicity," Lyla offered, hugging her as well.

She stiffened slightly at that thought. She knew that she was going to have her own baby in a few months and that she was going to be a parent, but she actually never realized that she was going to be a mom. She was going to be someone's mother and her child would rely on her. She swallowed hard, before looking at her two friends. "Thank you, guys."

Diggle raised his eyebrows, putting Sara down who immediately started to run around the office. "Are you ok, Felicity?"

"Yeah, no, I'm fine. The last few weeks have just been hectic." She couldn't help the sad smile that appeared on her face and she quickly turned around, walking over to Sara who was trying to grab some papers off her desk. Gently easing the papers out of her hand, she picked up the little girl, walking over to the sofa with her.

Diggle and Lyla followed, sitting down on the opposite side.

"You know you can tell us anything, Felicity," Lyla started, grabbing a toy out of her bag and handing it to Sara.

Felicity adjusted Sara in her lap, watching her press the button of the little music box and squealing excitedly as the music started.

"Is it because of Oliver?" Diggle asked, throwing his arm over the back of the couch.

"What no!" She shook her head. "Oliver's great. More than great actually. He's taking this much better than I am." She stopped, before adding. "It's me."

Her friends stayed silent and she concentrated on Sara for a minute, before continuing, "It's not that I don't want this baby. It's just hard right now." She watched as Sara pressed the button again and the music changed. "We just came back and I guess it's selfish, but I thought we had more time."

She looked up at Diggle, meeting his soft eyes. His head was tilted to the side and he leaned forward, his arm slipping from the back of the sofa.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, Felicity," he started, folding his hand together. "Having a baby will change your relationship with Oliver, but not necessarily for the worse." He stopped, looking at his hands. "For the last three year, I witnessed you two dancing around each other, hurting each other more times than I can remember, and I still think it's a miracle that you're finally together." Lyla elbowed him slightly, causing Dig to throw her a questioning look and a small smile formed on Felicity's face. "What I'm trying to say is," Diggle continued, rubbing the spot where his wife's elbow hit him. "You've seen each other at your worst and your feelings didn't change. A baby isn't gonna change that either."

Felicity nodded, before resting her cheek against Sara's head. It was true, they went through a lot to get to where they are now, and a lot had changed these past few months.

"Nobody is ready to have a baby," Lyla added, giving her a soft smile. "There isn't such a thing as the right time, trust me. But it'll be worth it." She looked at her daughter who looked up at her too as if she knew that they were talking about her.

"Mama," Sara said, reaching her hand out. Lyla leaned over the table, grabbing her daughter's hand, pressing a soft kiss onto her fingers.

A knock on the glass door made everybody turn towards the entrance of Felicity's office where Oliver was standing in the doorway.

"Hi guys," he greeted them, lifting up his hand. He hesitated before taking one step into the office, his gaze meeting Diggle's as if he was asking for permission.

Felicity hated that the two of them where still not exactly talking to each other. When they were on the road together, Oliver and her had a long talk about his actions in Starling City, which included kidnapping Lyla. He regretted it more than anything else, because he had lost Diggle's trust. She didn't need to talk to Diggle to know how he felt, but she hoped that they were going to work it out in the near future.

Diggle nodded his head, scooting closer to Lyla, and Oliver walked over, hesitating once more when he saw Sara on Felicity's lap, before sitting down next to her. The baby immediately turned, holding her arms out to him.

"Ollie!" She said, smiling at him.

The few times they had met the Diggle's after coming back from their trip, Sara had fallen in love with Oliver, much to her parent's dismay in the beginning.

Again, Oliver looked over to Diggle and Lyla, seeking their permission to pick their daughter up. Diggle tensed at first, but Lyla laid a hand on his leg, giving Oliver a slight nod who turned to take Sara out of her arms.

"Hi Sara, how are we today?" He asked the baby who was standing on his thighs, touching his stubbly cheeks.

Before their road trip, Felicity had never seen Oliver interact with Sara or any other baby before, but looking at him now made her heart swell with love. He was so gentle with her, his big hands supporting her as she scratched through his scruff, giggling. For a second, she pictured him with their newborn baby in his arms, a big smile on his face as he bounced around the hospital room, rocking their baby to sleep, and she swallowed hard, willing the images away.

Oliver's hand on her thigh made her look up at him and their eyes locked. She could see him asking her if she was ok and she quickly leaned forward, pressing a chaste kiss onto his lips, before leaning against his shoulder.

"I guess some things never change," Diggle grumbled and Felicity looked over to him, raising her eyebrows in question. He shook his head. "You always communicated by looking into each other's eyes, sometimes for minutes, making everybody else uncomfortable and I see you're still going strong."

Felicity laughed quietly and even Oliver's lips tugged upward at his friend's statement.

"I'm sorry if we made you feel left out, Diggle," Felicity apologized, linking her arm through Oliver's. "It wasn't either of our intention."

Diggle just shook his head and after that the tension was broken and they talked some more, before Gerry reminded them of their appointment with PT's photographer.

Before leaving, Diggle had shaken Oliver's hand, congratulating him on the baby and Lyla even hugged him. It had surprised her as much as it had surprised Oliver and she felt her boyfriend glowing with happiness as they watched Sara blowing kisses at them over her father's shoulder.

Once the small family had stepped into the elevator, Oliver had turned to her, enveloping her in his strong arms and for a short while, she was able to forget the stress of her life and be happy with Oliver.

* * *

The photo shoot was exactly how she predicted it. Gillian came together with a whole team who styled and dressed Oliver and Felicity, and it was hard to not completely lose it. Was all of this necessary for just one photo? Oliver, who had sensed her discomfort, stayed close the whole time, holding her hand and throwing her encouraging smiles. The dress they brought her looked amazing, but fit her like a second skin, clinging to her curves and more importantly her belly, making her look even bigger. She felt uncomfortable, until Oliver's soft words reminded her that she was beautiful. Did he even know how perfect he was?

The shoot itself was over in 10 minutes. They made her stand slightly in front of Oliver who had his hands on her waist, his fingers slightly grazing her belly. The picture looked great. The dress was flattering her figure and she matched perfectly with Oliver. It looked professional and that was just what she needed right now.

The press conference itself wasn't as bad as she thought. She had stepped up onto the podium with Oliver, giving the short statement, before leaving the crowded room five minutes later. Oliver's hand was on her back, guiding her away from the bulk of people screaming questions at them. Once they were safe in her office again, she had stepped into Oliver's arms and leaned her head against his chest. They went home together in the early afternoon, after her meeting with n important investor, the events of the day tiring her out.

Two days had passed, and Felicity had taken the afternoon off again. At first, she felt guilty, but at least it was for a good reason. She needed a new wardrobe, and it simply couldn't wait any longer. If the people at PT wanted her to look presentable, she needed to buy some new clothes that fit.

"What do you think about this dress?" Thea asked, holding up a red dress that seemed comfortable, yet form-fitting. Apparently, finding maternity clothes that were both comfortable and somehow fashionable wasn't an easy task, even for Thea Queen. They were already in their third store and Felicity had only found three new outfits.

She nodded, grabbing a few shirts she liked, before following Thea to the fitting rooms. The younger Queen had been patient with her, limiting her usual excited state while they were shopping and Felicity was thankful for that.

She hadn't been friends with Thea for long, the two of them only starting to bond when Oliver stayed in Nanda Parbat, but she already counted the young woman as a close friend. Before that, she had heard and read stories about Thea Queen and it made her realize how much the 20-year-old had changed over the past year. She had become more serious, growing up into responsible young woman. Felicity knew that Oliver was proud of his little sister and so was she.

"Felicity? Are you ok?" Thea interrupted her thoughts as they stood in front of one of the fitting rooms, her items already neatly hung up by one of the salespeople that helped them.

"I'm fine," she smiled, gesturing Thea to sit on one of the couches at the opposite side of her changing room. "Are you ready for a little fashion show?"

Thea grinned, sitting down and Felicity went into the spacious changing room, stripping out of her clothes and put on the first dress.

After almost an hour, Felicity tried on various outfits, letting Thea judge her appearance and making the poor sales woman run around the shop to get different colors and sizes almost non-stop. At some point, Felicity tried to stop Thea from sending her away once again, but Thea shrugged, telling her that she was leaving a lot of money here and that it was the least she could do.

Right now, Felicity stood in front of the mirror wearing the red dress Thea had picked out for her. She turned sideways, examining her profile. The dress was hugging her small bump, making it stick out and she gently stroked her hand over her belly, lingering for a minute.

"What does it feel like?" Thea's soft voice sounded up.

Surprised, Felicity let her gaze wander to the young woman sitting on the sofa as she raised her eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Being pregnant."

Felicity hesitated for a second, before sitting down, her hand once again landing on her stomach. "It feels weird." She paused, looking down to her hand. "My body is going through all of these changes without me doing anything. My belly just popped out two days ago and my boobs have been killing me for weeks now." Thea chuckled and Felicity looked over to her. "This isn't funny, I went up two sizes and they still ache like crazy all day. It's uncomfortable and distracting." She paused again, turning serious once more. "I'm tired all day and when I come home, I sometimes don't even have enough energy to feed myself, and Oliver literally has to feed me like a baby while I lie on the couch passed out."

"At least he gets some practice for when the baby comes," Thea offered, nudging her shoulder. Felicity's lips tugged upward and she gave her belly a gentle rub.

"The morning sickness isn't as bad anymore, but I still can't eat like I used to. I feel full after three spoons but half an hour later, I'm hungry again and that just makes me wanna cry." Her smile turned sad and she sighed. "You always read about how amazing it feels to be pregnant, but that feeling hasn't set in just yet."

There was a small pause, both of them thinking about her words, before Thea asked, "Do you feel the baby?"

"No," Felicity answered softly, shaking her head as she pushed her glasses up her nose.

Thea stayed silent for a little while, before averting her gaze to Felicity's belly again. "Can I feel it?" Her voice was almost a whisper and Felicity hesitated. She didn't even let Oliver touch her belly and she herself rarely touched it.

"You know what, its ok. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable, I'm sorry." Thea quickly apologized, sitting up on the couch next to her, but Felicity grabbed her hand, placing it on the roundness of her belly.

Thea's eyes widened as did hers, both of them equally surprised by her actions. Felicity didn't know what prompted her to grant her request, but seeing Thea's stunned face slowly spreading into a smile, made it worth it.

"Wow, it's really hard," Thea observed, smoothing her hand over Felicity's belly, before taking it back.

"Trust me that has more to do with me feeling like a balloon than anything else. I'm so bloated these days that I run to the toilet every twenty minutes, but can't pee. I feel pathetic." A laugh escaped her lips and Thea joined her.

After their laughter died down, she felt the younger girls arms wrap around her shoulders, embracing her in a gentle hug.

"Thank you."

Feeling emotional all of a sudden, Felicity put her arms around her boyfriend's sister, hugging her tight to her. She felt tears press at the back of her eyes.

"I better change now, before you make me cry. Can't ruin this beautiful dress." She joked as she let go of Thea and pushed herself up. Throwing one more glance at Thea, she went back into the changing room. Her heart was beating a little faster and she stroked her belly once more, a smile spreading over her face. Maybe the pregnancy was growing on her after all.


	5. 20 weeks, Part 1

**A/N: So even though I am back in Germany, life got a little crazy over the last two weeks and the chapter's a little late. I'll try to write more again now that things are settling down. I started working again and well, I don't have to tell you guys, sometimes life just gets in the way.**

 **Anyway, I have the next one half written and I will hopefully sent it to my beta this weekend, pinky promise!**

 **Thanks goes to my beta reader Afsaint, who is doing a fabulous job at fixing my grammar.**

* * *

It was the first week of December, when Felicity had finally convinced Oliver that she was accompanying him to the lair again, even though he still wasn't going out. She was now at 20 weeks and her energy had started to come back slowly. In general, she was feeling much more like herself and a lot of times, she actually enjoyed being pregnant.

She was sitting in her chair in front of her computers and Oliver and Diggle were training on the mats in front of her; Oliver as always was shirtless. Oliver and Diggle finally seemed to get along once more, talking to each other and joking around on occasion. It made her happy, seeing them together again, and it felt like their little family was reunited.

She leaned back in her chair, watching the two dots of Laurel and Thea's trackers, who were out patrolling, on her screen.

A loud thud made her look up and she saw Diggle standing over Oliver who was on his back on the floor. It was nothing new to her; Oliver had definitely lost his touch in the last few months. When he had started training again, Diggle almost won every fight and it left Oliver more than a little frustrated. More than once he had come home, quiet and growly and it made her chuckle. She knew that he wasn't somebody who liked to lose, but she also knew that this was something that she couldn't help him with. Now, some weeks later, the tables turned again, and Diggle was only winning every so often. Which was why the next thud didn't surprise her that much either. Dig landed on the floor next to Oliver, but quickly recovered, slamming Oliver, who had started to get up, down.

"Ow," Oliver moaned softly and her heart started to beat faster. Her eyes quickly checked him for any visible injuries, but Oliver was already getting up again, getting in position to attack Diggle. Sighing, she concentrated back on her computers when a little thud in her belly made her stop her movements and a surprised 'oh' left her lips. Her hand flew to her belly, gently placing it on the area where she felt it a few seconds ago.

"Felicity?" Oliver called her and in the next second, she felt her chair being turned. Oliver kneeled down in front of her, his hands landing on her thighs. "What's wrong? Is it the baby?"

A small smile spread across her lips and she looked up at him, cupping his cheek, letting her thumb run over his cheekbone. The frown on his face eased at her relaxed state, and she gave her belly a gentle rub.

"I think I just felt the baby kick," she explained, watching as his eyes lit up and a smile spread on his face.

"Really?"

"I think so. It felt like a little thud inside my belly, right after Dig threw you on the mats." She stopped, tilting her head to the side. "I don't think it was just me worrying about you."

She wasn't sure how it was possible for his smile to spread even further, but his whole face lit up and she couldn't help but lean down, pressing her lips against his. Screw the new rules of no PDA in the lair.

His hands moved to her cheek, gently responding to her kiss. When they broke away, he hesitated for a second before looking down at her belly.

"Can I feel?" He whispered and she grabbed his hand, placing it on her belly with hers.

A few minutes passed as they sat together, both of their hands intertwined on her belly as they waited for their baby to kick again. Nothing happened and Oliver sighed softly.

"Maybe Diggle should throw me on the mats again," he suggested, circling his thumb over her shirt. "She seems to take after her mom always worrying about Daddy."

Her breath stopped for a second, before she shook her head softly, tears pricking at the back of her eyes. "First off, you won't let Diggle throw you on the mats again just so you can feel the baby kick and secondly, what makes you think that we're having a girl?"

"If she _was_ a boy, she would be high fiving me right now for countering Diggle's attack that fast. Yet, she kicked when she thought I was hurt." He chuckled at her amused face. "It's definitely a girl."

"You do know that the baby's ears aren't fully developed yet, meaning that he or she couldn't hear you."

"Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart, but she's a girl and she just knows that her Daddy was in distress for a second." His hand left her stomach as he stood up again. A chill ran through her body and she immediately missed the warmth that radiated from his hand.

Oliver leaned down once more, pressing a kiss against her lips, before going back over to the training mats where Diggle was standing, smiling at her.

She returned his smile, before turning back to her computers.

* * *

Two hours later, they were back at the penthouse, and Felicity was sitting propped up against the headboard, her tablet in her hand as she reviewed her schedule for the next day.

She looked up briefly to see Oliver walking out of the bathroom and coming to lie down next to her. The mattress dipped as he lowered his body onto their bed, curling on his side. She moved her hand to his head, letting her fingers run through his hair and a soft groan left his lips as she gently scraped his scalp. He scooted closer to her, his face nuzzling her hip and his hands looped around her thigh.

Sending the email she just typed to Gerry, she silenced her tablet, putting it on the nightstand beside her, before focusing on a sleepy looking Oliver.

"One would think, you're the one that's pregnant," she joked, her fingers continuing their ministrations.

A soft hum escaped his lips as she felt him press a kiss onto her hip, and in the next second, he was pulling her down next to him. A tiny squeak left her mouth and she lay on her side, facing him.

He looked tired, his eyes a little red, and she chuckled quietly. "Did John tire you out?"

"Don't judge," he grumbled, intertwining their fingers in between them. "I spent all day, going through the boxes in the storage unit to find your comfortable sneakers and all the other things on your list, and I still haven't found half of them."

"You insisted on doing it yourself, Oliver, so don't complain." She leaned forward, pressing a kiss onto his lips.

As she tried to pull away, Oliver's hands landed on her waist, pulling her closer to him instead. He deepened the kiss, his tongue sliding along her bottom lip. She granted him access, allowing him to get lost in their kiss for some time, before pulling away again.

Oliver puffed out some air, leaning his forehead against hers. She knew, he was frustrated and she got it. They hadn't had sex in over three months now and they basically went from a hundred to zero in one day, but she still didn't feel like being intimate again.

They were silent for a while, and she listened to Oliver's controlled breathing, watching as he gulped several times.

Grabbing the hem of her top with her free hand, she pushed it up over her belly, before moving Oliver's hand that was still intertwined with hers, to her stomach, placing it on the bare skin.

His head shot up, his eyes searching hers for any sign of discomfort and she stretched her other hand out, cupping his cheek.

"I know I haven't been the best girlfriend lately, and I'm sorry," she started, shifting closer to him. "I've been difficult these past few weeks, my emotions getting the better of me most of the time, which I totally blame on the pregnancy by the way. But it still doesn't excuse the fact that I neglected you." She stopped, and Oliver opened his mouth, but she silenced him by putting her index finger on his lips. "You've been so wonderful these past few weeks, always making sure that I was feeling alright and I didn't even let you touch the belly." She pressed their hands a little harder against her stomach, emphasizing her point. "And I know you're itching to get your hands on me." She cringed. "That sounded a lot dirtier than I intended." Oliver chuckled softly and she turned serious again. "I know this is a lot to ask, but I need you to be patient for a little while longer. I still don't feel like having sex with you, especially now that she's moving around, but you do get free reign over the belly. I'm sorry for not letting you do this sooner." She released a breath, looking into his eyes.

"You just said 'she'." Oliver whispered, nuzzling into her hand on his cheek.

"That's all you got from my speech?"

He chuckled, rubbing his thumb over her belly. "No, I got the rest too."

"Good, because I don't think I can repeat that without crying."

Oliver leaned forward, pressing a kiss against her forehead. "Thank you." He smoothed his hands over her belly, up and down, side to side, almost like memorizing it. "You do know that I'm not gonna be able to keep my hands off of you now, right? I have weeks to make up for."

She lowered her gaze, feeling guilty of rejecting his touch all those weeks, but he lifted up her chin, looking into her eyes.

"Don't feel guilty about it." His thumb stroked over her cheek. "This pregnancy caught you off guard and you needed some time to adjust to all the changes that were happening. I admit, in the beginning, I was a little hurt, but I do understand it." His voice was light and she leaned into his touch.

"I think that sometimes I forget that I'm the one carrying the baby around." She paused, looking down at his hand that was still caressing her belly. "She's inside of me and I can feel her all day. Well, I couldn't actually feel her before today, but when I have to use the bathroom every half an hour, I know that she's resting on my bladder again." A laugh escaped her lips, and she looked back up to him. "I'm close to her all day and by denying you to touch my belly, you never had the opportunity to feel close to her as well and I'm sorry for that." Tears pooled in her eyes and she choked on the last few words.

"Hey, shh, don't cry, sweetheart." Oliver hushed her, pulling her impossibly closer, her belly pressed against his front, his hands moving into her hair. "I do feel close to her, because as long as you're by my side, so is she. Whenever I kiss you or hold you, I know that she's right there too." His thumb wiped away the stray tear on her cheek. "I love you, Felicity, and I'm not mad at you."

Her emotions were all over the place again and she sniffled at his words, swallowing down the sob that tried to leave her throat. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, willing the tears that tried to escape her eyes away.

"Thank you for being you." She buried her face against his chest, inhaling his scent.

"I love you too."

He pressed a kiss into her hair. "You just said 'she' again, by the way."

Felicity huffed, hitting his arm. "Way to ruin the moment, Mister."

* * *

Skipping up the stairs two at a time, Oliver hurried up to the doctor's office, foregoing the perfectly fine working elevator. Felicity had her next appointment today, and if they were lucky, they were going to find out the gender of their baby. He was still sure that they were having a girl. Yesterday, he was finally able to feel her kick and it was breathtaking, making everything so much more real. He couldn't wait to see the baby again today. Opening the door from the stairwell, he stepped into the corridor. When he had left the penthouse almost an hour earlier, he meant to stop at the cafe a few blocks down from the doctor's office to bring Felicity some lunch, but then somebody had crashed their car in front of him and he was stuck in traffic for half an hour. He already left a little earlier, knowing that traffic was sometimes bad around this part of the city, but he was still almost 15 minutes late.

Quickly turning around a corner, he walked into the waiting area, packed with people. A lot of them were women, all obviously pregnant and it took him a second to find Felicity. She was sitting at the far end, a closed magazine in her hand, talking to the woman opposite of her. As if she had sensed him coming, she looked up to him, meeting his eyes. A smile spread over her face and he entered the small waiting area, making his way to Felicity, feeling several different gazes following him.

"I'm sorry, I'm late. The traffic was terrible." He greeted Felicity as he sat down next to her, pressing a kiss to her lips. "Hi, baby." His hand automatically went to her belly, rubbing it gently.

"You're not that late, they didn't even call me yet," Felicity assured him, stroking his arm as she shifted around in her chair. "Plus, Christie here kept me company." She pointed to the woman opposite of her, and he followed her gaze.

Christie gave him a friendly smile, and he returned it.

"Hi, I'm Oliver, Felicity's boyfriend." He held his hand out, and the brown-haired-woman took it, giving it a soft squeeze.

"I'm Christie and Felicity has told me all about you already."

He looked back to his girlfriend, raising his eyebrows. Felicity was a private person, keeping her circle of friends small. It was unusual for her to just talk to random people, let alone befriend them and to him it seemed like Christie and Felicity were

already best friends.

His girlfriend just linked her arm through his, leaning against his bicep. "Christie is 22 weeks pregnant, and she is also getting her anomaly scan today." She pressed a kiss to his jaw. "She also let me eat her granola bar."

"Felicity told me that you were supposed to bring her lunch, but got stuck in traffic and I know what it feels like to be hungry all the time, so I gave her my emergency granola bar." Christie laughed softly and Felicity joined in.

The dynamic between the two women confused him, and something about Christie just seemed off to him. He kept quiet, trusting Felicity's instinct.

"Do you wanna know what you're having?" Christie asked while rubbing her belly. "My fiancée, Josh, and I had a long discussion about that because I want to be surprised, but he wants to know. In the end, I convinced him." She stopped, her voice turning sad. "He couldn't make it today because of work."

Felicity threw her a sympathetic smile, before answering, "We wanna know. I mean Oliver already thinks he knows it's a girl anyway, even though there is no way of knowing that." She briefly looked at him, squeezing his hand. "And while I trust his instincts, I do wanna know if it's true."

"Josh thinks it's a boy and God help me; I do hope it's a boy because I can't see him having a daughter. He would be so helpless." She shook her head. "He grew up with three brothers."

Felicity nodded her head. "Well, if you do have a girl and Josh ever needs help, I'm sure Oliver can give him some pointers. He grew up with a younger sister and he's fabulous with our goddaughter. She loves him."

"I'm sure he would need that." Christie chuckled, before turning serious again. "I just hope everything's alright, boy or girl."

Their conversation seemed harmless, and maybe he made the wrong assumption about Christie in the beginning. She seemed nice, and her answers seemed genuine to him. Over the years, he got good at telling when people were lying, and Christie seemed to tell the truth.

The two women chatted some more about their pregnancies and he tuned out, looking around the waiting room instead. It was definitely one of the prettier waiting areas he had seen in his life. The colors were bright and there were pictures of babies hanging on the walls. One of the pictures caught his eye, a blonde baby with blue eyes lying wrapped up in a blanket and he tried to picture their own baby, looking like this. Maybe she would have Felicity's nose and hopefully her beautiful smile. His gaze wandered to the next picture, stopping midway as his eyes caught a pair of green eyes studying him. He took in the young woman, who sent him a flirty smile, and he quickly looked away. His eyes tried to find something else to look at, but it was like, the only thing he noticed was all the different women gazing at him, some lowering their eyes upon meeting his, some smiling at him. He started to shift around in his chair. He couldn't believe there once was a time where he actually enjoyed being the center of attention. Just knowing that those women were looking at him, made him feel guilty towards Felicity, who was still happily chatting with her new friend.

Taking a calming breath, he threw his arm over her shoulder, pulling her into his side. She immediately leaned into him, placing her hand on his thigh, before looking up at him. Their eyes met and she tilted her head to the side, silently asking him what was wrong.

"I think he's uncomfortable with all the women around him staring." Christie sounded up. "I can't blame them though, cause he's really handsome."

He took another calming breath, masking his obvious discomfort at her words. His lips pressed together and he refrained from adding anything to her statement.

"Oh." He concentrated on Felicity, seeing her look around the waiting room and her fingers on his thigh tightened. She tensed next to him and straightened her back as he pressed a kiss against her cheek.

"Relax, none of them come even close to you," he whispered in her ear, banishing Christie and the rest of the women out of his head. "I love you."

She immediately relaxed at his words, melting into his arms. "I trust Oliver," Felicity said, intertwining their hands together, before looking back to Christie. "I'm well aware of his past, but I know that he has changed." Her tone changed to something that reminded him of her business voice.

"You're really lucky. I wish Josh would be more invested in the pregnancy," Christie changed the topic. "He came to our first appointment, but then told me that he just didn't feel as close to the baby as I did yet."

"I'm sure, once the baby is here, he will love it just as much you do, Christie," Felicity assured her quickly. Her face turned soft again, completely forgetting the fact that two seconds ago, she almost threatened Christie for calling him handsome.

Once again, the two of them fell into an easy conversation, talking about morning sickness and the weird feeling of the baby moving.

* * *

A little later, he was leaning against the chair Felicity was sitting on, his arm thrown over her head, resting against the back of the chair. His fingers played with her hair as they waited for the doctor to arrive.

Felicity and Christie had decided to meet for coffee the next day, and once again, he frowned at his girlfriend. She simply shrugged her shoulders, telling him that Christie seemed like she needed a friend and it felt good talking to somebody who was experiencing the same things.

"You're not gonna be disappointed if we have a boy, right?" Felicity looked up, grabbing his free hand, successfully pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Of course not." He leaned down, pressing a kiss against her forehead. "I love our baby. It's a mix of you and me, something that we created together and I don't care if it's a boy or girl."

"You're making me cry, Oliver." She smiled up at him with tears in her eyes. "I love you."

"I love you too." He kissed her lips, before chuckling, "And even if it's a boy, we'll just have to try again."

Felicity huffed, shaking her head softly. "Don't get cocky."

He was about to answer when the door opened and Dr. Tamara McAdams walked inside.

"Felicity, Oliver. It's good to see you again." She shook each of their hands, giving them a friendly smile. "How are we feeling? Did you feel the baby kick yet?"

"Yes, I did. He or she actually started kicking some days ago." Felicity answered, her hand smoothing over her belly. "It creeps me out to be honest."

"That's totally normal. You'll get used to it soon, but I do have to warn you. The baby's kicks are only going to get stronger, so buckle up." The doctor typed something into her computer. "Alright, are you ready to see your baby?"

Both of them nodded and Dr. McAdams started to prepare the ultrasound machine. Felicity smiled up at Oliver, as she lifted her shirt. He laid a hand on her shoulder, pressing a kiss to her temple as she shivered slightly upon feeling the cold gel, Dr. McAdams squeezed onto her belly.

"Do you wanna know the gender?" She asked as she placed the transducer onto Felicity's belly.

"Yes, please." Felicity answered.

"Alright." Dr. McAdams moved the transducer over her belly, spreading the gel, before pressing it down a little harder onto her bump. "Good news is that he or she seems to be in a good mood today." She concentrated onto the screen and Oliver followed her gaze. "The baby is moving a lot."

The image was still a little blurry, but all of the sudden he got a perfect view of their baby. She actually looked like a real person; he could make out the head and her belly. He could actually see her little nose and mouth.

"She's beautiful," he whispered, grabbing Felicity's hand with the one that was thrown over her shoulder.

"I see somebody already made a guess at the gender; let's see if it's right."

He looked back at Felicity who was staring at the screen, tears in her eyes. He gave her hand a soft squeeze, leaning closer.

The doctor moved the transducer around for a while, before stopping and pointing to the screen. "Well, congratulations. You're having a girl."

He felt breathless, and the world around him stopped for a second. Warmth radiated from his chest, and he forced himself to take a deep breath. He was going to have a daughter. Looking down at Felicity, he saw silent tears running down her cheeks. Letting go of her hand, he cupped the side of her face, wiping some tears away.

Their eyes met and a teary laugh left her lips. "We're having a girl, Oliver."

He still couldn't form any coherent words, so he just pressed his lips against hers, probably a little too long with Dr. McAdams standing right next to them. Felicity was the one who pulled away first, nudging him away slightly, before looking at her doctor with a blush.

She seemed to understand, giving them a knowing smile, before continuing with the ultrasound. For the next twenty minutes, they watched as Dr. McAdams took measurements and checked their baby from head to toe, always explaining her steps.

Oliver was truly mesmerized by their daughter without actually meeting her yet. His heart swelled with love at the thought of holding her for the first time, feeling her soft skin under his fingers, looking into her blue eyes and seeing her small chest rise and fall with each breath. Looking at Felicity he knew she felt the same and it made him even happier.

"Alright, so as I said, your baby seems to be doing great. Her organs look good, her heart is beating strong and she's just the right size." The doctor looked over to Felicity, before continuing, "Your placenta however, is lying low, partly covering your cervix. It's called placenta praevia and it happens to about 0.5% of all pregnant women."

Felicity tensed next to him, gripping his hand. He moved closer to her, until his stomach was pressing against her chair. His heart started to beat faster, worry surging through him.

"I don't want you to worry, though. You're only 20 weeks pregnant and your case of placenta praevia isn't severe. Chances are that the placenta will be pulled up as your uterus expands in the next few weeks, which happens in most cases such as yours."

A sigh of relief left his mouth and he leaned his head against Felicity's.

"And what if it doesn't?" Felicity asked, pressing out the words.

"We won't worry about this until your next appointment, Felicity. I'll do a vaginal scan next time, checking the placenta again and if it's still laying low, you can ask me that question again." She paused, turning off the ultrasound machine. "You're young and healthy, Felicity. Trust your body to take care of this for you."

Oliver felt her nod and he pressed a kiss onto her head, before pulling away from her. The joy of knowing that they were having a girl was gone, replaced by worry and fear and he sighed.

Why couldn't she have an easy pregnancy?


	6. 20 weeks, Part 2

**A/N: I apologize for not posting this sooner. Life always gets in the way and I just want to ask you guys to be patient with me. I'm working on the next part already and I hope I'll finish it in the next few days! :)**

 **Thanks goes to my beta reader Afsaint, who is doing a fabulous job at fixing my grammar.**

* * *

The sharp clicking of Felicity's heels made Oliver lower his bow. He turned around, watching her walk over to her computer station and sit down without so much as a hello. Placing his bow on the nearest table, he slowly walked over sitting on the edge of her desk.

After their appointment earlier, Felicity had gone back to work, even though he had tried to convince her to come home with him. She was clearly upset, if not a little frightened, with the news from their visit. He had read many pregnancy books over the last few weeks and some of them had talked about placenta praevia as a possible complication, so he knew what it meant. Her placenta was covering her cervix and if it didn't move out of the way, there was no way for the baby to come out.

It did sound scary, but he trusted Dr. McAdams. Felicity's placenta was only partly covering her cervix and since she was only 20 weeks pregnant, there was still half of her pregnancy left and that seemed like more than enough time for it to move out of the way. Dr. McAdams would have told them if they needed to worry more about it, but instead she seemed convinced that the problem would resolve on its own. And since she was the doctor dealing with pregnant women all day, he chose to trust her judgment.

He had done his research on Dr. McAdams before going to their first appointment. He was protective of Felicity and he only wanted what was best for her, so he made sure that she got the best gynecologist there was in Starling City.

Felicity, however, didn't trust her doctor's judgment. They weren't even out of the doctor's office, before she had pulled up all kinds of information on her situation and it wasn't until he had gently pried the phone out of her hands, that she had looked up at him. He had wrapped his arms around her, trying to reassure her that it was going to be ok, but nothing worked. She got angry, ripping the phone out of his hands, telling him that she was going to meet him at the lair later, before stomping off to her car.

It hurt to see her pull away, instead of talking to him and he had left the parking lot, driving back to their apartment, wondering why she suddenly seemed to be the one with communication issues.

"Hi, how was your afternoon?" He started, not moving any closer. She still seemed tense, her back straight and her shoulders pushed back.

"Are we really doing this right now, Oliver?" She pressed out, her eyes never leaving the computer screen. Her fingers flew over the keyboard for a while and he sighed.

"I think we should talk about this, Felicity." He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Dr. McAdams seemed confident that your placenta is gonna move up, and I think we should trust her."

"Well, excuse me, if I can't just _trust_ her on this. I don't know if you realized, but it's affecting me more than you," she growled, her fingers stilling. She turned her chair to him, looking directly into the eyes.

"She's my daughter too, Felicity. Do you think that I'm not worried about her and you?" He shook his head softly, pushing himself away from her desk. "I'm terrified every single day that something will go wrong and I lose both of you, but I don't let that dictate my life."

"That sounds funny coming out of your mouth. Last time I checked, you were the one that pushed me away last year because of that exact same reason."

"Are you kidding me right now? I thought we were over this. We've talked about this a million times while we were away and I told you that I was sorry and I learned from my mistake. Haven't I proven that to you?" He caught her eyes as they softened for a second.

"Of course you have. I know that you won't leave us, but that doesn't mean that I can't be terrified that something will go wrong." She stopped, looking down at her feet. "She's inside of me, relying on me to carry and grow her for another 20 weeks, before pushing her out. And now it seems like I won't even be able to do that."

"Felicity." His voice softened and he stepped closer, grabbing her hand. "I know this seems scary, but you're not alone in this." He lifted her chin, making her look at him. "We've gone through so much together these past years, and you know what I learned?" He cupped her cheek, looking right into her eyes. "As long as I have you by my side, I can do anything, because we're stronger together. Let me be there for you now."

She leaned into his touch, closing her eyes for a second, before opening them again. "I'm trying, Oliver."

"That's all I'm asking, Felicity." He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"But what if it doesn't move up? I don't wanna get a c-section," she whispered, leaning her head against his chest. "As much as the thought of pushing her out of me terrifies me, I still want to do it. I don't want to be half asleep upon seeing her for the first time."

He wrapped his arms around her, engulfing her in his embrace. He gently cradled her head against his chest, holding her as close as possible, while his other hand rubbed her back soothingly.

"Don't think like that. What happened to always being positive, huh? How about we focus on the fact that we're having a girl instead of going crazy over something that might resolve itself in the next few weeks?"

She nodded against his chest and he pressed another kiss against her forehead, savoring their moment together.

"Aww, look at you two together! So, what am I getting? A niece or a nephew?" His sister's voice sounded and he loosened his arms around Felicity, looking in the direction of Thea's voice. She was standing at the bottom of the stairs, her hands on her hips.

Looking down at Felicity, who was still hugging him clearly not ready to talk yet, he answered, "We're having a girl."

"Thank god! This will make shopping so much easier!" She laughed excitedly, before squeezing her eyes together. "Everything ok?" Her eyes landed on Felicity.

"Yeah, don't worry."

Thea nodded slowly, not completely convinced, but she walked over to training area without saying anything else, leaving them be.

* * *

Hours later, they were still at the lair, Thea and Diggle just coming back from patrol. Oliver was doing the salmon ladder while Felicity sat at her computers, supervising.

Upon seeing his sister and friend enter, Oliver had jumped off the salmon ladder and walked over.

"Everything went ok?"

"Ollie, how long have I been doing this now? I was trained by an assassin, I know how to handle myself," Thea answered, putting her bow down, before crossing her arms.

"I'm still your brother and it's my responsibility to worry about you." He looked over to Diggle who had placed his mask on one of the tables. "I know that Dig's keeping you safe out there, but that won't stop me from worrying."

"Poor Felicity, I don't even wanna know what she has to go through with you every single day," Thea joked, shaking her head, before heading to the bathroom to change.

He looked over at Felicity who was intently reading something on her computer screen, biting her lip. She didn't even seem to notice that Thea said her name so he walked over to stand behind her chair.

"Felicity, I thought we were over this," he said upon seeing that she was reading another article about placenta praevia. "You really shouldn't read this." He leaned over her shoulder, closing the window with the article.

"Oliver!" She exclaimed, swapping his hand away. "I was reading that!"

"I know, but I bet half of what you find online in all of these forums and other websites aren't even half true. You're stressing yourself out over nothing."

"You don't know that. I was actually reading an article by an obstetrician who specializes in these cases," she defended herself, turning her chair around to face him.

"So what? How's that supposed to make you feel better, reading all the complications about something that will probably resolve itself in the next few weeks. You're stressing yourself out over nothing, Felicity." He crossed his arms in front of him, looking down at her.

"You don't know that, Oliver."

"We went over this three hours ago," he started, but Felicity interrupted him.

"I'm sorry that I can't take this as easy as you do, Oliver. But _I_ am the one that has to push her out of me and if I can't do that because my placenta is in the way, then I will be the one suffering from that." Her hands were holding onto the armrests of her chair, her knuckles turning white already.

"Even if it comes to that point, which I'm sure it won't, you'll get a c-section and everything will be ok. I won't let anything happen to either of you," he said, laying a hand on her shoulder, which apparently made her angrier.

She stood up, straightening herself in front of him, trying to intimidate him, but she wasn't even wearing heels so her head barely reached his shoulder. She was tiny compared to him and he had always loved their height difference.

"It's not that easy!" She hissed, narrowing her eyes. "I don't know why you can't get that through your thick head. You have no control over any of that because I'm the one carrying her."

"I know that, Felicity, trust me, and I'm grateful for that every single day, but stressing yourself out over this isn't good for you or her. I want what's best for you and I worry that something goes wrong every single day. But I don't let it control my life."

"Oh really? So the fact that you still haven't come back as the Arrow has nothing to do with us having a baby?" She crossed her arms over her chest, resting them on top of her bump.

"What are you talking about? That is something completely different." Why was she bringing this up now?

"It's not and you know it." She pointed a finger at his chest, poking him. "Admit it, you haven't come back as the Arrow because you're afraid that you won't find the balance between being the Arrow and Oliver Queen again. And if you fail this time, I'm not the only one suffering."

A wave of anger and hurt flashed through his chest and he took a step back from her. He would make himself a liar if he denied her accusation, even though it was only half-true. Yes, he was afraid that he wouldn't find the balance between being the Arrow and being Oliver Queen, but he knew that as long as Felicity was by his side, he would manage to do it. She would pull him back from the dark side and remind him of the good things in life. But the scariest part about coming back as the Arrow was definitely the chance of him not coming back one day. The thought of leaving Felicity and their baby alone and mourning was far worse than anything else.

"Oliver, I'm sorry," Felicity whispered and he looked back at her, regret written all over her face. "I didn't mean it."

She stepped closer to him, her hands reaching out to him, but he shook his head, taking a step back.

"I know exactly what you meant, Felicity." He looked down at his feet, taking a deep breath. "I'm gonna go now. I'll see you at home later."

Without waiting for her response, he grabbed his jacket from one of the tables, heading towards the stairs.

"Oliver, no!" Felicity pleaded, running after him and grabbing his arm. "Please don't leave now. I'm sorry." Her voice broke and he turned around to her again.

"Felicity, I don't wanna fight with you and if I stay now, we'll probably continue fighting." He stopped, taking a deep breath. "I need some time to think, I'll see you at home." He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, before gently prying his arm out of her grip and climbing up the stairs of the lair.

* * *

It was after midnight when he came home. After leaving the lair almost three hours ago, he had driven around with his car for an hour and a half and then ended up at the burnt down Queen Mansion. It was declared uninhabitable, most of it burnt down from the big fire over a year ago, only parts of the foundation left. The city wanted to take the rest of the mansion down, but Oliver had begged them not to. It was the last thing that was left of his family, his childhood home. They reluctantly agreed to wait for another year, and as soon as he had enough money, he had bought back the property.

He wasn't sure what to do with it just yet; maybe he would build his own home here, a home for his family. A place where his children would grow up, making as many good memories as he had once. He had a good childhood. He was loved and cherished by his parents; admittedly spoiled.

He had spent an hour and a half walking over the big property, relishing in memories of his childhood, a time where his life was still easy and free from everything dark. Was it wrong of him to want his children to grow up like he did? They didn't deserve to worry about possible threats or the mere possibility of one of their parents not coming home one day. He wasn't afraid to die, no, he was afraid of what would happen to Felicity if he did. She had survived the thought of him being dead once, but it was different. They weren't together then and they did not have a child to think about of.

Together with Felicity, his daughter was his priority now and nothing would change that.

With that in mind, he had gone back to his car, driving back into town to their penthouse. Everything was dark upon entering and he had quietly taken his shoes off, placing them next to Felicity's before making his way to the bedroom.

He found her curled up on her side, her head burrowed in his pillow, her hand lying over her belly. Quickly taking his shirt and pants off, he walked over to the bed, sitting down on the side. He took a moment to just take her in, before lying down next to her, pressing a soft kiss against her head. She sighed softly, before scooting closer to him and he opened his arms for her, letting her snuggle closer.

He wasn't mad at her. Maybe a little disappointed, but he loved her and he would always come back to her at the end of the day. So, he pulled her closer to him, her head resting on his shoulder, her arm slung over his stomach and her bump pressed into his side. Placing his hand over her belly, he gently pushed her shirt up, and rested his hand on her bare skin, before pulling the covers over them.

"I love you," he whispered, pressing another kiss against her forehead.

* * *

When Oliver opened his eyes the next morning, Felicity was already out of bed. He had felt her getting up, pressing a kiss against his cheek, before leaving their bed. Now, some time later, she was still in the bathroom drying her hair.

Yawning he got out of bed, grabbing a shirt before heading into the kitchen to make breakfast. He was in the midst of scrambling the eggs, when he heard the soft tapping of Felicity's feet. He didn't turn around like he usually did and she stopped some feet away from him.

"Hi," she whispered her voice rough and he fought the urge to turn. Instead, he concentrated on finishing the eggs, taking two plates out of the cabinet next to him.

"You were out late, I tried waiting up for you, but I got too tired," she said, clearly trying to get him to talk somehow.

Turning off the stove, he took the pan in his hand, splitting the eggs between the two plates, before walking over to the sink, putting the dirty dishes inside. The hot pan sizzled slightly upon making contact with the few drops of water in the sink and for a few moments it was the only sound that filled the penthouse.

"Oliver, I'm sorry. Please talk to me," Felicity sounded up, her voice broken. "I didn't mean to say those things; it was just the heat of the moment. Please don't be mad at me."

He turned around upon hearing those words, taking her in. She was wearing a form-fitting gray dress, making her belly stick out. Her hair was slightly curled, her face was still free of make-up. She looked beautiful, but he could see the uncertainty in her eyes. She was biting her lip, her arms slung around herself.

"I'm not mad at you, Felicity," he started, watching as a sigh of relief left her lungs. "But I'm disappointed."

Her body tensed again, and she lowered her gaze, hugging herself tighter.

"I thought you would understand my hesitation in returning as the Arrow." He leaned back against the counter, crossing his arms. "You were right. This isn't just about me anymore. I have you and our daughter to think of now and the thought of leaving you two alone if something happens to me, is the scariest thing I've ever felt." He stopped, taking a deep breath. "Our family is more important to me than anything else, Felicity, and I thought you would understand that."

He looked over to her, waiting for her response, but instead he saw tears running down her face. He sighed, walking over to her.

"Hey, shh, why are you crying now, Felicity?" He asked, framing her face with his hands, gently wiping some of the tears away. "Please don't cry."

"I'm sorry," she sobbed, her arms coming around his middle and he let her hug him. He pulled her closer, pressing her head against his chest.

"It's alright, Felicity, shh." Kissing her head several times, he took her face in his hands again, making her look at him. "I love you and nothing is going to change that, do you understand?" She nodded, her hands clutching his shirt.

"I love you too and I do understand that it's hard for you to come back," she whispered, looking up at him. "The thought of you going out at night and not coming back terrifies me too, but I know that you keep this city safe, making it a better place for everyone, including our family and friends." She took a deep breath, calming herself down. "I know how much this means to you and to me and I don't want you to give this up. Before we found out that I was pregnant, you were itching to go out again, and I don't want you to not do it because of our baby and me. I'll never hold it against you, because I know you're committed to this family."

Leaning his forehead against hers, he took a relieved breath, closing his eyes. Hearing her say those words out loud made him feel a lot better.

"Thank you."

Her hand cupped his cheek and she pressed a soft kiss against his lips. "Thank you for being patient with me."

He opened his eyes again, looking into hers. "I need you to promise me to talk to me about your fears and worries though. I can't help you if I don't know what's bothering you."

"I'm terrified that something will go wrong with the baby and not just the whole placenta thing. What if she doesn't turn around in time or I get one of the millions of other complications that happen during birth? I'm just scared, Oliver."

"I know me too. But we'll face those things together if they really happen, all right. You're not alone and I will stay by your side the whole time, ok?"

Felicity nodded again, pulling him down for another kiss.

* * *

It was a little after noon, when Felicity headed out of the office to the small café across the street. This morning, she had contemplated canceling her coffee date with Christie, staying home for the day and spending some much-needed time with Oliver. It was Oliver, however, who had convinced her to go to work, telling her that she would regret not going in later on. He was right, there were still meetings lined up and if she wanted to take some time off for Christmas and Hanukkah, she couldn't skip anymore days.

Entering the coffee shop, she saw Christie sitting in the far corner, already waiting for her. Felicity quickly made her way through the shop, sliding into the chair opposite of her new friend.

"Hi, how are you? Sorry, I'm a little late there was just so much to do," Felicity apologized, smiling.

"Don't worry! I totally understand, I mean you're the CEO of a huge company. I honestly don't know how you do that while being pregnant. It must be exhausting!" Christie laughed, pushing one of the coffee mugs towards her. "I ordered you ginger tea as well, I hope that's ok."

"Thank you," Felicity took the mug, taking a small sip, before putting the cup down in front of her. "It's hard. The job is hard without being pregnant. But carrying her around all day makes it a lot harder. She's constantly sitting on my bladder.

"So, it's a girl? Congratulations!" Christie exclaimed, laying her own hand over her belly. "I'm having a boy. Josh was so relieved, you won't believe me. He actually seems to be excited now."

"That's great, I'm so happy for you," Felicity said, smiling softly. "Oliver's excited too. He really wanted a girl."

"That's great. Everything else ok?"

Swallowing hard, Felicity looked down. "The baby's fine, but my placenta is halfway covering my cervix."

"Oh no," Christie exclaimed, her hand reaching out to Felicity's, giving it a soft squeeze. "I heard about that, but doesn't it sometimes resolve itself?"

Chuckling quietly, Felicity looked back up at her. "Yeah, that's what Dr. McAdams and Oliver say too. It's just hard to trust that. Am I not allowed to worry? It was so hard to accept this pregnancy to begin with and I just want it to be good now, you know?"

Christie tilted her head to the side, drawing her brows up. "Oh, Felicity. I'm so sorry. Of course you don't have to trust them. You're allowed to feel insecure about all of this. Sometimes I think men don't understand how scary pregnancy can be sometimes. Josh is especially bad sometimes. He totally didn't understand in the beginning that I just didn't want to be touched let alone have sex with him. He was almost mad." She shook her head, taking another sip from her tea. "It's better now, but I was so mad at him."

Felicity stayed quiet for a minute, fiddling with her cup. She really couldn't complain about Oliver, other than that he was overprotective.

"No, Oliver's perfect. Sure, he's frustrated too, but he never shows it. I actually feel bad about ever being upset with him. I'm sure he would carry her around for me, if he could. He just loves the baby so much already." A soft smile spread over her face.

"You're making me super jealous. You're so in love, it seems like a fairytale. How did you two meet again?"

A nervous laugh left Felicity's lips and she quickly took another sip of her tea. "We met when Oliver came back from the island. He needed some help getting up to date with all the technology, so I helped him." Gazing at her new friend, Felicity saw Christie looking at her expectantly. Taking a deep breath, she chose her next words carefully. "We became friends and after going through some, uh... tough times, we got together this May."

"That sounds so romantic. You went from friends to lovers." Christie squealed excited.

Another nervous laugh left Felicity's lips. If only she knew what those tough times were. Felicity bet it wouldn't be half as romantic if Christie knew that those tough times included stopping the city from complete destruction, fighting off a bunch of super soldiers and killing the leader of the league of assassins. Somehow, that didn't sound too romantic to her.

"Yeah, those were some really interesting three years, but it was all worth it."

Christie squealed again and Felicity let out a sigh of relief. She seemed to have believed her vague story.

"So, how did you and Josh meet?"

Christie's eyes turned soft and she leaned back in her chair, her hand stroking her belly as she started her tale. Felicity relaxed just glad that Christie didn't ask any more questions about her and Oliver.


	7. 25 weeks, Part 1

**A/N: I apologize for not posting this sooner. I moved again and I'm now officially going to college and let me tell you, it's not easy. Updates are probably going to be slow from now on, cause I have exams each Monday and it's just kicking my ass.**

 **Anyway, we're moving along with the story, there aren't that many chapters left. I would say 3-4 chapters!**

 **Thanks goes to my beta reader Afsaint, who is doing a fabulous job at fixing my grammar.**

* * *

Unlocking the door to their penthouse, Oliver pushed the door open, gently guiding Felicity inside.

"Are you ok?" He asked, closing the door after he entered.

"I'm fine," Felicity answered, puffing out some air while turning to him. "Don't give me that look!"

"I'm not!" He raised his hands in surrender. "But I do have to say I told you so." Placing the keys on the counter, he walked past her into the kitchen, getting two glasses out of the cabinet. "Dr. McAdams told us at the last appointment that you shouldn't worry about your placenta and yet you spent the last four weeks freaking out. Your placenta moved up, so there is no reason for you to worry anymore."

"I didn't know that four weeks ago. It could have just as well stayed there and I would have had to get a c-section." She threw her bag onto the sofa, before sitting at the kitchen counter. "We've been over this Oliver. I'm not going to repeat myself."

He sighed, filling the two glasses with water, before handing one to Felicity. "I know, I'm sorry. We don't have to talk about it anymore."

"Until something else happens..." She grabbed the glass in front of her, gripping it tightly. "I just worry," she added quietly.

"I do too, Felicity." He walked around the kitchen counter, turning her chair so that she was facing him. Framing her face with his hands, he continued, "There is always a slight chance that something could go wrong, and even if that happens, we'll figure it out. Let's try to concentrate on the fact that she'll be with us in a few months, and we'll get to hold and love her for the rest of our lives, alright?"

Felicity took a deep breath, nodding her head and he pressed a short kiss to her lips.

"Why don't you go and change into something a little more comfortable and I'll start getting dinner ready?" He let go of her, stepping back to help her off the chair.

"Thank you, Oliver." She gave his hand a soft squeeze, before making her way over to their bedroom.

His eyes followed her until he couldn't see her anymore. Turning around, he walked back into the kitchen, grabbing a pot from one of the cabinets. Today had been their next appointment with Dr. McAdams who had done another ultrasound, checking Felicity's placenta again. Fortunately for them, it had moved up and out of the way, soothing everyone's worries.

Pouring water into the pot, he placed it onto the stove, when he heard Felicity yelp from their bedroom. Turning the stove off once more, he quickly made his way down the hall, finding Felicity in front in the mirror in their walk-in closet, clad in a bra and yoga pants.

His eyes roamed over her, looking for possible injuries, but he couldn't make out anything. His eyes stopped at her belly, now the size of a soccer ball. He loved her belly and it was hard to keep his hands off nowadays. She didn't seem to mind anymore though, most of the time, she actually laid her hand over his, guiding it to where their daughter was kicking.

He turned his attention back to his girlfriend. It had been a while since she had obvious mood swings and for some reason this seemed like one. He carefully approached, stopping a few steps behind her.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?"

She turned around, tears running down her cheeks. "I found a stretch mark." She pointed to her hip, and he stepped closer, not able to make out anything on her smooth skin. Letting his fingers run over the spot she pointed to, he felt a small roughness and as he took a closer look, he saw the tiny stretch mark.

"You can hardly see it, baby," he stated, regretting his words a second later as she slapped his hand away, stomping out of the closet.

Sighing, he rubbed a hand over his face, before following her into the bedroom. This was going to be interesting.

She was lying on the bed, curled onto her side, facing the window. Her hand was lying on her belly and he could still see tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes.

Silently, he lay down next to her, scooting closer until his front was pressed against her back. He pushed one arm under her head, letting it rest against his upper arm, while his other arm went over her waist, his hand resting on her bump. Nuzzling her neck, he pressed a gentle kiss behind her ear.

"I'm sorry our daughter is so huge that she's giving you stretch marks. I take full blame for that, but I promise you that you can hardly see it and it certainly doesn't make you less beautiful. You're still the sexiest woman that I know and those little marks won't change that." He pressed another kiss right under her ear, his fingers softly caressing the tiny mark on the front of her belly.

"You have to say that," Felicity grumbled, wiping the remaining tears off her cheeks. "What if I get more? I have worked hard to lose my little belly and now I probably have to work twice as hard to look halfway decent after this pregnancy." A sob left her throat and she started crying again.

"Felicity, please look at me," Oliver whispered, gently pulling at her shoulder, waiting for her to turn around, which she did reluctantly. He placed his hand back on her belly, softly stroking it. "I don't care about all those stretch marks. They are just proof that you carried our daughter around for nine months. And nobody will ever need to see them. Hell, nobody is ever going to see you naked, I have that right solely reserved for myself. So, please don't be upset about them. I love you, stretch marks or no stretch marks."

He cupped her cheek, bringing their faces closer together, their foreheads resting against each other. Felicity calmed down, her breathing returning to normal, the tears drying on her cheeks.

"Thank you, Oliver," she said quietly, her hands framing his face.

"You're welcome, baby." He pressed a kiss against her lips, before trailing down her neck, placing open-mouthed kisses down her chest, before moving to her belly. His hands went to each side of her bump, gently holding on as he rested his cheek against it. For a moment he didn't move, waiting for their daughter to kick. Nothing happened though, so he pressed his lips against the belly, remembering the little stretch mark on top. He nuzzled his nose into the side of the bump, before trailing kisses all the way to the top where the little mark lay.

"Uh, Oliver," Felicity breathed, her hands going into his hair and he looked up at her, his eyebrows raised. "This feels really good."

His eyes widened as he tried to process her words. His throat was suddenly too dry and the words were stuck in his mouth. He tried not to get excited just yet, maybe she wanted something completely different, but just the thought of her actually wanting to have sex with him again ...

"Really?"

Their eyes locked.

"Yes."

"So you want me to keep doing this?" He asked carefully, needing her to actually say the words. He needed to be sure this was what she wanted.

"God, Oliver. Do you need me to spell it out for you?" She grumbled, leaning up onto her elbows. "I want to have sex with you right now!"

As soon as the words were out, Oliver scooted back up to her, sealing their mouths together.

Without wasting time, he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, his arms banding around her back, pulling her as close as possible. She returned his kiss with the same heat, her hands already pulling his shirt up, tugging it over his shoulders, and he reluctantly released her bottom lip to take over.

Shirt off he lowered himself until he was at her side, incredibly turned on by the sight of her bare chest just below his mouth.

"Felicity," he groaned, his hands wandering up and down her naked back. "I missed you."

She didn't respond, instead she pulled at his head and he obliged, pressing their lips together again. As soon as their lips touched, her hands started to wander down to his back all the way to his pants and he groaned again, burying his face in her neck, finding more soft skin. His mouth latched onto her neck, trailing kisses all the way to her collarbone, stopping there and sucking gently.

Felicity moaned loudly, her hands gripping his ass and he moved his mouth downward, licking all the way to her breasts. They had gotten bigger and he would be lying if he said that he didn't like that. He had waited so long to touch them, so he stopped wasting time, cupping them, while his mouth descended onto her left one.

"Ouch, Oliver, stop!" Felicity shouted in the next minute, her hands pushing him away from her. He moved back quickly, looking at her as her hands went to her breasts cupping them carefully.

He was sitting up on the bed, his arousal fading immediately. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted this."

Felicity closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths, before answering, "Of course, I do. But my boobs are super sensitive and this was way too much. Please don't touch them again."

A laugh left his throat and he let out a breath. "And I thought you changed your mind." He leaned back down, burying his face in her neck, his arms wrapping around, pulling her closer to him again.

"No, you just need to be gentle," she whispered, her arms going around his neck. "But you also need to hurry up, before my mood changes again."

He chuckled softly, sealing their lips together again.

* * *

Opening her eyes, Felicity blinked a few times, adjusting to the bright light in the bedroom. Lifting up her hand, she rubbed her eyes, before turning to look over her shoulder. She was met by Oliver's sleeping face just inches away from own. He was spooning her, his arms wrapped around her waist, one hand resting on her bump.

She snuggled closer into him as her mind flashed back to the previous night. Who would have thought that pregnant sex could be so awkward? After the little fiasco with Oliver and her boobs, they had trouble finding a position they were both comfortable with. Even though her belly wasn't super huge yet, it was still in the way, making her uncomfortable. Oliver had been patient, giving her time to adjust, and in the end, he had wrapped himself around her from behind, much like right now. It wasn't exactly what she wanted, but at that point she was already super sensitive that it didn't take long for both of them to reach their high.

The second time was better, less awkward and more to her liking. After so long without being that close to Oliver, she just wanted, no needed, to be as close as possible again. She had always loved it, when their bodies were pressed together, moving together, nothing in between, but that wasn't possible with her belly and it had slightly annoyed her. So the second time they had sex that night, Oliver sat up, leaning against the headboard and pulled her into his lap. She still wasn't as close as she wanted them to be, but she was at least able to kiss him without craning her neck.

In the end, all the awkwardness was worth it, just to see Oliver's happy, satisfied face afterwards. She knew the how didn't matter to him as much as it did to her, because he was happy as long as he was able to feel her close again.

The feeling of Oliver's lips ghosting over her neck pulled her out of her thoughts and she looked back again into his sleepy eyes.

"Good morning," she whispered, her hand finding his on her belly, giving it a soft squeeze. "Did you sleep well?"

"Perfect," he murmured, his lips wandering along her neck and up to her cheek, before meeting hers in a gentle kiss.

Goosebumps erupted all over Felicity's body and she turned around some more, deepening their kiss. Oliver immediately moaned, pressing himself into her side and Felicity could feel his very present arousal.

"You can't get enough of me, hm?" She smiled into the kiss, fully facing him now. She wrapped her arms around his neck, scooting as close as possible.

"Never." His hands wandered to her hips and in the next minute, he was pulling her up, so that they were once again sitting, him leaning against the headboard and her sitting on his lap.

A breathy moaned left her throat as their groins connected and she gently rocked against him. Her hands went back to his face, her lips finding his once again and she started to lose herself in everything that was Oliver. The way his hands were splayed over her back, caressing her bare skin, his calloused fingers making her skin tingle.

His soft lips that were nipping at hers, slowly driving her insane. His scent filling her nose, clouding her brain. It was perfect.

Until their daughter decided to wake up, kicking happily against the front of her belly. Oliver must have felt it too, because in the next minute he was slowing their kiss, his hands moving to the sides of her bump, holding it.

"Alright, baby girl," he started, looking down onto her belly. "Mommy and Daddy love you very much, but right now they also need some 'mommy and daddy time'. So you, my love, need to go back to sleep."

A soft giggle left Felicity's mouth and she laid a hand on her bump. The baby was still moving, continuing to kick against the front of her belly.

"Somebody is not listening to Daddy," she chuckled, carefully poking the spot where their daughter was still kicking.

"That's not nice, sweetheart," Oliver scolded their baby, his hand laying on top of Felicity's. "Daddy really needs some time with Mommy right now."

Instead of calming down though, their daughter continued to kick rather enthusiastically and Felicity laughed seeing Oliver's miserable face.

"And I thought we had some time left before she would ruin our sex life," he grumbled, pulling them to lay down again so that Felicity was slightly propped up against their pillows while Oliver rested his head on her chest, his cheek resting against her belly.

"I think she just likes your voice," Felicity offered, running her hands through his hair. "I mean, I like your voice, you know every variation. The way you get all growly when you're upset or your soft voice when we have a quiet moment together..." She trailed off, sighing dreamily. "And let's not forget about your Arrow voice, it used to turn me on so much, you won't believe me."

"Used to?"

"That's the only thing you got from that?" She asked, slightly pulling his ear.

Oliver groaned again, turning his face into her chest, pressing a kiss in between the valley of her breast.

"Stop it, mister. Your daughter wants your attention right now, so focus. We can still have fun later." She nudged his head softly, continuing to run her fingers through his hair.

Oliver pressed a kiss against her belly, his hand rubbing over it gently. "Alright, you have my whole attention now, baby girl."

For the next ten minutes, Oliver talked to her belly, telling their daughter the story of how they met and it actually seemed to calm her down.

"I think she's sleeping again," Felicity whispered, letting her hand wander down his neck onto his bare back.

Oliver turned his face, placing open mouthed-kisses up her chest and throat until he reached her lips, sealing them with his, but not two seconds later, Felicity's tablet started chiming violently next to them.

"Ignore it, it's Saturday," Oliver groaned, moving down to her neck.

"It could be something important," she answered, her hands stroking his back gently. The tablet dinged again and she sighed heavily, before pushing Oliver off her.

"What's wrong with everyone? Can't I have some interrupted time with my girlfriend? It's Saturday," Oliver growled, sinking into the pillows.

Felicity leaned down, quickly peeking his lips, before sitting up and reaching for her tablet, which kept on chiming. "Alright, let's see!"

Unlocking the screen, Felicity opened the alerts.

"No," she whispered, holding her breath, while her fingers quickly moved over her tablet. "This can't be happening."

"What's wrong?" Oliver sounded up next to her, sitting up and scooting closer to her.

"No, no, no, no, no! Frack! How could this happen?" It was getting harder and harder to breathe as she read the words on the screen.

"What on earth!" Oliver exclaimed angrily, his voice raising. "Who wrote this!?"

The words on the screen blurred and she desperately tried to suck in some air, but her lungs just didn't cooperate. Everything started to black out, and she let her tablet fall down.

Big, strong hands encased her face, warming her cold skin and she closed her eyes.

"Felicity, baby, you have to breathe, please," Oliver's concerned voice rang through the air and her hands blindly reached for him, clinging to his arms. "Breathe with me, Felicity. In and out."

Her hands wandered to his chest, her hand lying over his heart, feeling the strong beat and the calm rising off his chest. She concentrated on his beating heart and after a minute or so, she finally felt like she could breathe again.

In the next second, she was enveloped in Oliver's safe embrace and tears started to run down her cheeks. How could this happen?

Oliver let her cry, pressing kisses to her head and whispering words of comfort. It helped, but it wasn't enough to make her forget the terrible headline she just read.

 _'Accepting this pregnancy was the hardest thing in my life - Is Felicity Smoak happy to have a baby?'_

* * *

After turning off the stove, Oliver grabbed the kettle, pouring the hot water into the teacup on the counter.

"You really shouldn't read that, Felicity. We both know all of that is a lie," he said, putting the kettle back down and grabbing the cup instead. He turned around and walked into the living room, where Felicity was sitting on the sofa, tablet in hand.

"Felicity, please. We have to come up with a plan to counter this article. You hacking the newspaper isn't going to help. Not only has this article spread already, but everybody would immediately now that it was you who crashed their servers," he explained, placing the cup on the coffee table, before sitting down next to her, facing her. His hand covered hers that was still wildly moving over her tablet and she stilled, which gave Oliver enough time to pry her tablet out of her hands, placing it behind him on the sofa.

Defeated, her hands fell onto her lap and she took a deep breath.

"I should have know something like that would happen. I'm the CEO of a fortune 500 company, dating the ex-owner of said company and having a baby with him. Apparently my life is extremely newsworthy right now," Felicity pressed out bitterly, looking down onto her belly. "And if I'm being honest, most of the things in the article are actually more or less true." A tear rolled down her cheek as she laid her hands on top of her bump, softly caressing it.

"No, Felicity. Don't say that. I haven't read the whole thing, but from the few sentences I've read, I can tell you that more than half of this is a lie." He stopped, laying his hand over hers. "Look, I know the pregnancy came at the wrong time and it was hard for you to adapt, but you did, because you're a remarkable, strong woman who finds a solution for everything life throws at her." He gave her hand a soft squeeze, while his other hand wiped some of the tears off of her cheeks. "I love you, and I know that you love our baby. Don't let some stupid newspaper tell you otherwise."

Felicity nodded her head, biting her lip, before meeting his gaze. Her eyes were still watery, but her lips tugged upward just a bit.

"Thank you." She scooted closer, and he opened his arms, welcoming in her in his embrace. "I love her so much, Oliver. It hurts me that somebody could every say that I don't love her. She's my daughter."

"I know." He pressed a kiss to her head, his hands running over her back.

They were silent for a while, just basking in each other's presence and it gave Oliver some time to think.

The article condemned Felicity for not wanting the baby, needing to focus on her career first, before having a family. It also featured details that only their close friends knew which concerned Oliver more than anything else. He was sure that none of them would ever speak to the press, especially with that many details. There was only one more person who presumably knew all those things and his stomach started to churn at the thought.

"Felicity?" He whispered, his hand rubbing over her back. "Do you know who wrote the article?"

The blonde sat up, crossing her legs underneath her, before stretching her hand out. Oliver reached back, fishing the tablet off the seat next to him and handed it to her.

It didn't take her more than ten seconds to pull up the article again, skimming through it once more.

"Nathalie Rodriguez, why?"

"Well, how did she know all those things? A lot of it isn't true, but parts are and we didn't tell anybody except our closest friends." He stopped, closing his mouth swallowing his last words.

"Do you know who wrote the article? Just say it, Oliver," Felicity said, her hand landing on his arm, squeezing gently.

"Just hear me out, alright?" He started, taking a deep breath. "I don't wanna accuse anyone, but there were details only a few people know and I haven't told anybody else." He let out a breath, not sure how to continue. He looked over at her, seeing her big blue eyes looking at him expectantly. "I'm just saying that there is only one other person who knows this stuff."

He watched as her brain worked for a minute, before following his accusation. Her eyes went wide and she shook her head. "No, Oliver. She wouldn't do that."

"Hey, I'm just saying that she's the only one, next to our friends, who knows all those things. And if I have to choose between our friends, _our family_ , and her, I know who I would choose."

"Oliver! She is my friend!" Felicity exclaimed, squeezing his arm a little more violently. "Christie wouldn't do something like that. She knows how hard all of this is!"

"I don't doubt that, but you hardly know the woman. What if she is the one who leaked this to the press? You met her four weeks ago and you're already best friends? Don't you think that is a little weird?" Oliver countered, standing up.

"No, it isn't weird! She just understands me, because she is also pregnant. Christie is a nice person who wouldn't do that and last time I checked, it isn't her name that's written under the article." She crossed her arms over her chest, resting them on top of her belly. Her brow was slightly furrowed and she looked at him over the top of her glasses.

"Felicity, don't give me that look," he said, but she just furrowed her brow further. "I just want you to consider this option, sweetheart. If you trust her this much, then fine, I didn't say anything, but we have to find out how this happened. Christie is the only one that we don't know that well, and you can't blame me for making sure it wasn't her."

Felicity puffed out some air, pushing her jaw to the side and pursing her lips.

"You look adorable, by the way," Oliver added, smirking at her and a small smile formed on her lips.

"Don't try to charm me now, Queen!" Felicity huffed, unfolding her arms and grabbing her tablet again.

Oliver knew he had won, so he sat back down, throwing his arm over her shoulder. He pressed a soft kiss to her temple, before focusing on the small screen.


End file.
